On the Same Page
by Azure K Mello
Summary: In the wake of Jess' trip to Yale, a lot needs to be sorted out. As Rory and Jess try to figure out their futures, they have to wrangle the people they care about in the present. Sequel to Books on a Shelf.
1. Chapter 1

On the Same Page 

In the wake of Jess' trip to Yale, a lot needs to be sorted out. As Rory and Jess try to figure out their futures, they have to wrangle the people they care about in the present. Sequel to Books on a Shelf.

Seven chapters in all.

Complete word count: 22,632

She breezed through her classes after having breakfast with Paris who had said, "If you don't get married for a couple of years, will I still be invited?"

"Paris, you, Lane and my mom are my bridesmaids. Mom is my maid of honor, you can give a speech if you like." Paris hugged her like crazy. Rory had smiled, all day in fact. She was going to marry Jess. After class, she gathered her four and a half pages of list and said, "Pray to Yahweh, I'm telling Mom, in about an hour."

"Good luck," said Paris.

"She'll be okay with it, right?"

"In the end," agreed Paris. "If you break it to her all at once she can be pissed all at once: you're moving away, you're moving in with Jess, you're marrying Jess."

"Oh, God," said Rory. She drove home, feeling both really happy and scared. She went directly to the inn and was greeted with hugs.

"So, are you a woman now?" asked her mother, teasingly.

Rory took a deep breath and said, "I'm getting married." Then she blinked, "I meant to tell you in stages. I didn't mean to blurt." She had surprised herself with the statement.

Her mother blinked at her. Rory watched as she schooled her face. Ever since their huge rift when Rory had dropped out of school and when she'd finally gone back, her mom tried to respect her decisions more. It wasn't that her mom liked, or approved, of every decision she made, her mom just knew that Rory was going to make her own choices. So instead of getting angry, her mom said, "Like, this weekend in Vegas or at some vague point in the future?"

Rory pulled out her list and held it out, "I made one, he made one. His came out as sixty-four cons and one hundred and forty-eight pros. Mine's fifty-two to one hundred and thirty-eight. I'm happy, Mom, read it. I'm happy. I meant to tell you in stages. It's a vague point in the future. He asked my ring size last night."

"You told him you have obnoxiously small fingers?"

"My fingers are not obnoxiously small."

"Then why don't your rings fit me?" asked her mom.

"You have sausage fingers," said Rory with a shrug. Her mother gave her a mock horrified look. Her mom didn't seem happy about the news. But, Rory thought that once they talked, once her mom had actually read the list, had listened, she would be smiling. She and Rory had talked so much about Jess and her mom seemed genuinely pleased he was back in her life. Her mom hadn't taken the list yet. "Let's go home?" asked Rory. "You can read the list, we can order from Al's?"

"Sure, Rory, let's go," she put her arm through Rory's and they left the inn and she said, "I want to hear everything." Rory told her all about the library, and taking him to the dining room where they read as they ate, and about his fan, and about having mac and cheese with Paris and Doyle, and about being put in charge of stirring. She talked about eating ice cream cones in bed and how good it had felt to be in his arms again. Her mom listened to her and at home she said, "Al's is doing Greek this week."

"Sounds good to me," agreed Rory. "I can't come home this weekend. I have too much studying for finals, so don't order way too much."

"Just the regular amount of too much?" clarified her mom.

"Exactly," Rory agreed. Her mom called while Rory got them both sodas and took out mallomars to tide them over until the food came. She continued to tell her mom all about their day together, painting a vivid image for her and then providing her with a much blurrier watercolor of their night. She talked about her plan to move to Philadelphia and why it made sense for her career and just for herself. Her mom was smiling and she said, "What?"

"It's been a long time since you were so obviously happy about your life," said Lorelai, "not about a guy or anything, it's just that figuring this one part out has made you a little less fractious."

"I still need a job," said Rory, biting into a mallomar.

"Yeah, but you don't need to spend money on batteries for your vibrator," she said.

"Mom!" said Rory, shocked at the bluntness.

"I can read between the lines," she said.

"We've always been good together, physically," said Rory, looking away in embarrassment but not willing to back down; she was grown up and she was talking as an adult. "The physical was really where we always clicked completely. First nights are never great, never, but — honestly, we were amazing together. Paris was unhappy because I've never been a screamer before."

"Ewwwww," said her mother slowly. "That's way too far."

"You were the one talking about vibrators," said Rory.

"Yes, but mine was funny, yours was heartfelt. It was gross on two levels: gooey and overshare."

Rory shoved the rest of her mallomar into her mouth. She told her mom about the discussion about rings and pros and cons. And then she said, "Read the list, Mom. When you do, you'll see that I had to tell him my ring size." Her mom started reading and Rory got up and poured them both glasses of red wine.

The doorbell rang after fifteen minutes and Rory answered it. Not looking up from the paper, and without moving off the couch, her mom said, "Don't you dare pay, sweets, my wallet is on the side. You cannot pay for dinner at your mother's house." Not arguing, Rory paid from her mom's wallet. She brought the food into the living room. Then she got plates, forks and the wine, she saw her mom was on the final page and she didn't say anything. She opened the bags and started to spread out the food. Her mom looked up, "Did he make fun of how tiny your fingers are?" Then she grinned, "You're getting married," she half screamed it.

"I'm getting married," replied Rory.

"You're getting married," her mother repeated. "Mrs. Well-I've-never-been-sure-how-to-pronounce-Jess'-last-name."

"What's so hard about Mariano?"

"You're going to be spelling that for the rest of your life," said her mom. Rory laughed. "Am I going to have any grand children who will have to spell it?"

"Not in the next ten years, we want to both be able to enjoy our kids, and we're adopting."

"Wow," her mom blinked, "I expected you to say that you hadn't discussed it."

"No, we've discussed it," said Rory.

"You're getting married," said her mom.

"The question becomes," said Rory, "are you going to be the mother of the bride, the wedding planner and the maid of honor or do you want to ditch one or more of those roles?"

"I want to be all three please," said her mom.

"Okay," agreed Rory with a smile.

"Spanakopita is the only acceptable way to eat spinach," said her mom.

"Agreed," said Rory.

"Can I make your dress or do you want to buy it?"

"You can make it," promised Rory. "I have some ideas."

"Oh good," said her mom, grinning. "I thought you were going to get snooty and want a designer."

"You're my designer," said Rory. "Are you sure you want to be the maid of honor? Luke is going to be Jess' best man."

Her mom was quiet for a minute, "It'll be fine. I'll get Paris and Lane's measurements closer to the time."

"Thanks, Mom," said Rory.

They ate a lot of Greek food, talking about Jess, the food, the inn and were happy and laughing. She talked about his opinion on Dean and her mom started to disagree and Rory said, "He made me feel smaller than I am. He made me feel like I owed him something for his kindness. And the way he talked about Lindsay?" She thought about it for a second, "He made me think I was the only option and that we had a future. I am not small, I owe no one for treating me with basic curtesy and he was married." Her mother closed her mouth and, for the first time, didn't outright blame Rory. "I am not small," she repeated and her mom shook her head, agreeing wordlessly. Then she hugged Rory and she felt like she was being forgiven for something that had never really been her fault. "For all our false starts, for all the ways we hurt each other. Even with his leaving and my telling him to keep secrets; even with his coming to Yale and asking me to run away and my almost cheating on Logan and the way he said, 'I don't deserve this,' like I'd stabbed him instead of kissed him… I'm marrying my soulmate, Mom. It took us a while to get here but-" She took a breath and shook her head, "'Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.' We needed it all to happen, we were always going to here but we needed to grow up and learn."

"You're quoting Helen Keller?"

Rory shrugged, "Yeah, I don't know: I'm still hungry." They had finished all the food Rory said, "I really want pie but you can't keep secrets and Jess might not have told Luke."

"Do you really think he'll want Luke to be the best man?"

"He considers Luke to be his only real family," said Rory. "In fact, we'll have to figure out what to do about the ceremony, he isn't going to want Liz there. Then again, he hasn't asked me to marry him yet, so…"

"Why wouldn't he want his mother there? I know she's loud but she is his mother."

Rory breathed out slowly, in telling her mother what Jess had said about Dean, she had told her how Jess' mom used to date abusive guys. Rory considered it and she said, "She drank so much she sometimes forgot his name. She did so many drugs she sometimes forgot he existed. Her boyfriend at the time didn't like having a teenager around so she kicked him out here to Luke. And Luke expanded his apartment, threw Jess a Christmas, tried to keep him in school. Luke is going to be his best man; Liz isn't going to be invited."

"Huh," said her mom. Then she said, "I think I can manage to not tell Luke as long as we get our pie to go."

They walked arm in arm, Rory talking about her study schedule and how she was going to tell her grandparents about the question Jess was going to ask her. In the diner Rory leaned over the counter and said, "Hey, Luke, how are you?"

"Rory," he beamed at her. "You're home."

"Yeah, I've got finals coming up, so I won't be home much."

"That's great, that you're home, that's great," repeated Luke.

"Oh thank God, you know," said her mom, over dramatically slumping onto the counter as though relief had literally melted tension insider of her.

Rory laughed, looking at her mom and then turned to Luke, "We were going to get pie to go so that Mom didn't announce it by accident."

Luke came around the counter and raised her off the floor in a hug. He always hugged at weird angles, he did it so rarely. But Rory always appreciated getting hugs from Luke. "Rory," he breathed, "I am so excited." She smiled into his shoulder. He put her back on the ground and said, "You're getting married."

Everyone in the diner was staring and then cheering and Rory was blushing. "We just wanted chocolate pie," she said.

"It's on the house," said Luke. "My niece-in-law does not pay."

"Jess and I are not officially engaged, yet," said Rory.

"No, but I'm officially engaged as the best man, so don't screw it up for me," he said, still beaming as he cut two extra-large slices of pie and topped them with Reddi-wip. "I made fun of your pros and cons lists for so long. And then at seven this morning, I'm getting a call from Jess saying, 'I made a pros and cons list and talked to Rory: we're getting engaged.' I can't make fun of the lists anymore."

"That's a lot of pie and whipped cream, you never let me have this much pie and whipped cream," said Rory looking at her plate.

"I'm in a pretty great mood," he said, holding out forks as he reached for coffee mugs. He poured them each a cup of coffee and then he kissed Rory's forehead, "I'm already starting to write the toast."

"We don't have a date yet, Luke."

"You and Jess can be as behind as you like," he replied. People started asking all sorts of questions that Rory answered between mouthfuls of pie.

When she was done with her pie, and had drained her coffee mug, she said, "I have to tell Lane. I cannot let one of my bridesmaids hear this secondhand. Thank you for the pie, Luke, and for putting so much effort into the speech." She leaned over the counter for another hug. "I'll be MIA for a while, finals, but I will see you for breakfast tomorrow before I head back to New Haven."

"I'll be waiting, with pancakes."

"Night," she said and to her mom she said, "I'm going to be at Lane's for a while, but with the babies, not too late."

"Kiss the babies for me," her mom said as Rory fully stood.

"Bye, Mrs. Mariano," Luke called as she got to the door.

"It's a while off," she called back, smiling at the people in the diner.


	2. Chapter 2

Walking over to Lane's she sent a text: "I don't want to ring the bell and wake the babies but I'm on my way."

The text back said, "Door's unlocked."

Rory let herself in calling, "Hey," softly.

"Hey," Lane called back, "kitchen." Rory walked through to the kitchen and was greeted with a tight hug. "I miss you, so much, my babies are killing me and I need real, solid news of the world outside Stars Hollow and babies."

"Well, I want to give you some big news. It happened at three this morning. I came home to tell Mom, and Luke already knew and told the whole diner and I wanted to make sure you heard it from me and not Babette or Miss Patty."

"Heard what?" asked Lane already smiling. "If Luke's involved it's Jess related. Was his trip perfect? Are you back together?"

"How do you feel about being a bridesmaid?" Rory responded.

"No way," said Lane.

Rory took the pros and cons list from her purse and held it out to her oldest friend, "He made one too, then he asked me my ring size."

Lane started to read it then impatiently flipped through it. "Oh my God." Rory just nodded. "You're marrying Jess?" she had the exact reaction a best friend was supposed to have, hugging her tightly and almost jumping up and down. "Of course I'll be a bridesmaid. Is your mom making our dresses? I want to lose the baby weight."

"Lane, you look beautiful, you look like my best friend. Do what you like, but know that you're always beautiful. Mom can wait on measurements."

"You're getting married," Lane repeated.

"I'll need some tips on being a wife, so start writing them down," said Rory. She knew it had been a rough start, a terrible honeymoon, a rough pregnancy but now they had finally hit their stride. There was talk of getting the band back together, Lane was starting to give drum lessons.

"I know nothing," says Lane.

"My wife knows everything," said Zack coming in, only catching half the exchange.

"Rory is getting married to Jess."

"Wow," said Zach slowly.

"I might need Hep Alien to play at the wedding. How's your cover of Guns of Brixton?" asked Rory.

"That's not really a dance song," said Lane.

"We'll make it work," said Zach.

"Thank you," said Rory. Looking at her watch she said, "It's late. I should let you get some sleep."

"You're getting married," said Lane, with excitement.

She hugged Rory again and, as Rory stepped out the backdoor, her phone rang. Looking at the display she smiled before answering it. "Hey, Jess." She walked down the street, keeping her voice low in deference to the hour.

"Hey, how'd it go?"

"Mom's thrilled and we went out for pie, and Luke cut me a slice that was about a third of the pie."

"What kind?"

"Chocolate, with way too much whipped cream and then Lane agreed to be a bridesmaid. Luke is already writing a toast. I love seeing Luke so happy."

Jess laughed, "I haven't bought the ring yet."

"Well, the ring doesn't really matter," said Rory. "How was the meeting with Doubleday?"

"They want it, they want a wide release for the fall."

"Jess," Rory breathed, "That's amazing."

"They want to cut both me and Truncheon checks and then I have normal royalties, just like a real author."

"You are a real author, Jess," Rory smiled as she said, "you were before today."

"I've never seen a real author check amount before," he said, making her laugh. "So, as the creative director of Truncheon, and the author, I pulled the trigger. Lawyers will look it over next week. But, if it's all sound, Truncheon gets a big lump of cash and my book hits big stores in September."

"That is awesome," she said.

"The thing is, I'm going to have to do a book tour — probably for four months, on and off," he said. Then in a deadpan voice he said, "I just hope our relationship can handle that amount of travel."

Rory laughed, "God, Jess, I can't believe you would consider traveling when we're about to get engaged."

He joined her in laughing. Sobering, he said, "I wanted to tell you all day, but you had classes and I had a fight with the printer and then a visual artist cried in our office. Chris was so uncomfortable he just walked away." Rory laughed, "It's not funny: I was left with a sobbing man."

"Poor baby," said Rory, sarcastically sympathetic.

"It was not funny, Rory. So, what happened with your mom?"

Rory started to recount her evening to him. She walked into the house and said, "Hey, Mom," to her mom who was at the table. "I'm on the phone with Jess. A visual artist cried on him today."

"How did his meeting with Doubleday go?" asked her mom.

"It went really well, it looks like they have a deal."

"Cool, can I talk to him?" asked her mom. She reached out for the phone, making grabby hands.

"Mom wants to talk," said Rory, "You probably should get used to the idea of these conversations being regular."

He chuckled, "Consider me braced."

She held out the phone to her mom who took it and said, "Hey, Jess, so the book meeting went well?" she listened and said, "A book tour? So you're going to leave your homemaker all by herself? Because, y'know, Rory's plan is to get hitched and pop out babies." She smiled into the phone, as Rory snorted and got herself a mug of coffee. "Yes, of course, my eight grand babies. I'm glad we're on the same page. She should be pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen." She laughed at whatever his response was. "Right? Here's the thing, Luke is so excited, he's already writing his toast. Rory's eyes went űber wide when he said it. And she pointed out that there hasn't even been a proposal. So, if you could get on that, I would appreciate it so that I can talk about wedding plans without scaring her. Do you know how long it takes to plan a perfect wedding?" She listened for a moment and then said, "I don't know; I've never pulled it off. After years of doing it as the manager and owner of an Inn, I have never had one perfect wedding." She listened and then said, "Yes, it's too late to elope." She smiled, "Here she is."

Rory took the phone back and said, "Ignore her."

"Your mom scares me," he said.

"She scares everyone," Rory said, "I promise you, no extremities at the ceremony."

"Thank you. I didn't think she'd take the news this well," he said.

"She wasn't thrilled at first, but she read my list, so now she's on board," said Rory, "it's a convincing list."

"That's good. Matthew and Chris are pretty gung-ho too. I had to put my foot down over tux fittings."

"Small ceremony, no extremities outside of Babette and Miss Patty getting drunk and possibly goosing you."

"Thank you," he said. "It's late. I'll let you go, so you can talk to your mom. I'm pleased you got too much pie from Luke."

"Luke's pies are the best," said Rory. "Have a good night."

"Love you, Ror," he said.

"Love you too," she said, before hanging up.

"You love him," said her mom, drawing out the word love in a singsong mocking way that made it far more syllables than it should have been.

"I'm marrying him, so I better," said Rory.

"One question, sweets, and then I'll leave it alone: color scheme?"

"Cream and rose gold," said Rory without hesitation. "But I still want the white dress."

"Thank you. And, sorry, vague headcount?"

"Fifty, max, no town square wedding. Just the people who used to come to my birthday parties and whoever Jess wants, in the garden of the Dragonfly. No extremities, Mom. I just want to be married to Jess at the end of the day. Cite budget if anyone is angry they aren't invited."

"Great: small, elegant, perfect," said her mom. "We can do that."

"Good," said Rory before getting cookie dough out of the fridge. She got two spoons and sat down. "Really good chocolate pie tonight."

"I swear, his pies just get better and better," agreed her mom as she dug into the container with her spoon.

"I have to tell Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow night," said Rory, popping cookie dough into her mouth.

"Good luck," said her mom.

"Thanks, that's really useful support, Mom," she said. They fell silent as they ate and Rory yawned. "I should head to bed."

"Class, learn, graduate," agreed her mom. She kissed her mom's cheek, "Night, sweets."

"Night, Mom." She went into the closet and grabbed two packing boxes, having brought them back and forth from school. She folded them into a usable shape and said, "Am I allowed to bring stuffed animals, or am I supposed to have grown out of that once I'm an engaged woman?"

"Pack 'em," said her mom emphatically. "Men accept it as something weird girls do. We have to accept that they like videogames. You have to accept that Jess still thinks being sullen is synonymous with being cool."

Rory said, "That's your son-in-law you're being mean about. He isn't sullen; he's laconic. There's a difference." With that, she went into her room she took all her least essential books off her shelves and from under her bed, then she packed a layer of winter clothes on top of each box, then her stuffed animals. All the time she thought of what she would say to her grandparents at dinner the next night.


	3. Chapter 3

She woke up early and went up to her mother's room and flopped down on the bed, "What time do you have to be up and do you want me to set you an alarm?"

"Time is it?" asked her mom, clearly asleep.

"It's a little before seven. I'm going to shower and then I'm heading over to Luke's for pancakes."

"I don't have to be up until eight and I'll see you tonight. I'm not getting up."

Rory nodded and kissed her mom's cheek before setting her bedside alarm and then moving it to the other side of the room. It would force her mom to get out of bed instead of just throwing it at the wall. "Love you," she said softly.

"Love you too, Mrs. Mariano."

Rory smiled at her from the door. Downstairs, she hopped in the shower and scrubbed herself clean. She changed into clothes for class and drove over to the diner. There, Luke grinned at her. "Luke, he hasn't asked me yet. My mother is already addressing me as Mrs. Mariano. Let's wait until there is actually a verbal contract to get excited. Otherwise, we'll all be fatigued by the time the actual ceremony happens. Mom is already asking about color scheme and headcount."

"Color scheme?" Luke poured her a cup of coffee.

"Rose gold and cream," said Rory, picking up her mug.

"Jess going to be okay with that?" asked Luke.

"In the extensive, some might say inexhaustible, list of things Jess cares about and ranks by importance, the color scheme for our wedding probably goes under who the best He-Man character was. And, to my knowledge, he has no strong feelings on that either. Here's the part Jess is going to care about: for the headcount I said that there was a maximum of fifty."

"You don't want a town square wedding?" asked Luke, he kept his voice down. There could be a riot if people found out that Rory Gilmore — the town princess — was having a small wedding.

Rory kept her voice to a whisper as she said, "What I would like, is a wedding where none of the guests have ever called Jess a hoodlum."

"I've called Jess a hoodlum," Luke pointed out.

"That's different. You had to deal with him smoking in your apartment," Rory shrugged. "I don't want anyone who will whisper that I could have done better to come to our wedding. You and I both know it's just as true for him as it is for me. I want a wedding where everyone is excited for us."

Luke nodded, and at a normal volume said, "Okay, sounds great. Pancakes?"

"Chocolate chip," said Rory with a smile. "But if Caesar is cooking, I'll take scrambled eggs."

Luke shook his head ruefully, "How are finals?" he asked, moving behind the wall to the stove and talking to Rory through the window. To Caesar he said, "I'll cook my niece breakfast."

"I'm studying," said Rory, "getting ready. Jess has been quizzing me on things over the phone and Paris and I have revised our study guides about a million times."

"You excited?"

"I love finals. And I have three more big papers. I can't sleep until graduation," said Rory. She drained her coffee as Luke brought her the stack of chocolate ship pancakes. "Thank you, Luke," she cut into the pancakes and got hit with steam. Through a mouthful of fluffy, delicious carbohydrate she said, "Amazing. Thank you for teaching Jess how to make pancakes."

"You're welcome," he said as he filled her coffee cup. "So, small ceremony?" he asked, lowering his voice again.

"I want our wedding to be about me and Jess. No self-written vows, no spectacles."

"You're not going to write your own vows? You two are all about words."

"You want Jess to talk about his emotions in a room full of people? See, I would like to have a nice day."

"Fair point," said Luke.

The door opened and Sookie's voice sort of shouted, "There she is."

Rory turned on her chair, "Hi, Sookie."

"Here comes the bride," she started to sing.

"We're getting engaged; we're not there yet," replied Rory. Then she saw Dean out of the corner of her eye, he must have come in after she had sat down. His mouth was open and his eyes were wide. Rory didn't turn to look at him, she kept her eyes on Sookie. "We need to calm down, until Jess and I are actually engaged, we all need to calm down. After he's asked and I've actually said yes, we need to sit down and have a long talk about food. Here's a preview: I want multiple cakes."

"Is Jess a vegetarian?" asked Sookie.

"No, Jess thinks evolution gave us sharp teeth for a reason. He'll eat pretty much anything."

"Oh good," said Sookie. "I want to do a big feast."

Rory spoke softly, still aware of the audience as she said, "Me too, but it's going to be a small party. Fifty people, at most — close family and friends."

"Little and elegant, yay," said Sookie at a totally normal volume. Whispering had never been Sookie's forte.

"Yay," agreed Rory. "But until a question has been asked, we all need to calm down. Between you, Mom and Luke, I feel like I'm going to be more tired than excited. Right now, be excited that, when Jess left my apartment, he took my OED home with him. My dictionary lives in Philadelphia, which means I've pretty much moved to Philadelphia. Let's be excited about that: I moved in with Jess."

"Yay," said Sookie. Then she shook her head, "That's not as exciting."

"That's as much as I can offer you," said Rory. "I'm not discussing the wedding until after there's a ring. And, if the ring comes before graduation, then we have to put off the talk until after graduation. I really need to focus on school and life and, when we get to it, the wedding. Right now, be excited about my dictionary."

"Rory, you're the only one who gets excited about dictionaries," said Luke.

Rory's phone rang and Luke pointed at the sign that banned cell phones. "It's Jess," she said.

Luke sighed, "Fine."

"Do you want me to call him back from the landline," Rory teased while pointing at the phone on the wall.

"Just answer it," he said grumpily.

Rory answered with a smile, "Hey."

"Hey," he replies.

"Luke is freaking me out with all the smiling and he let me answer my phone. Everyone has questions for me: Mom wants a headcount, and a color scheme. Sookie wants to know if you eat meat."

"I'm a carnivore," he replied.

"You're an omnivore," Rory corrected.

"Not to pile on, but I have a question too," he said.

Rory laughed, "Oy with the poodles already. What's your question?"

"What kind of mattress do you like?"

"What kind of mattress do I like?" repeated Rory.

"I want a mattress that's just ours. I don't want a bed I've shared with anyone but you. It's a queen frame."

"The firmer the better," said Rory.

"Good, I hate soft mattresses," he replied. "What did you say to your mom?"

"Fifty guests at the most and the colors should be rose gold and cream."

"Fifty people? That's a little small for the town square."

"No town square, no personal vows," promised Rory.

"Love you," he said.

"Love you too," she promised. She hung up and said, "Luke, can I please have my bill?"

"You can't pay."

"Let me pay until I actually have the last name Mariano, please," said Rory. Luke sighed heavily and Rory said, "Actually I've ordered this enough times not to need a bill." She opened her wallet and pulled out twelve bucks. Then she drained her coffee, "Thank you for my pancakes, Luke."

"See you after finals?"

"Yeah, after the end of the year," agreed Rory.

"By then you'll be wearing the ring," said Luke.

Rory laughed, "He has so much going on with Truncheon, Doubleday and the new bar. He'll buy the ring when he gets a chance to breathe. Right now he's getting a new mattress: it's sort of more important."

"Mattresses, dictionaries: you two used to be more romantic," said Luke.

"We used to crash cars, cut school and get into fights on the street," said Rory. "I'm not sure romantic is the right word." She hugged Sookie and said, "I promise we can decide on the menu when we have a date." To the rest of the diner, she said, "See everyone in a couple of weeks. I have to get through graduation."

"We'll see you at graduation," Babette corrected her.

"Babette, I only have four tickets. I already have to try and figure out how to score an extra one for Jess. I might buy one off someone. But it will probably cost me three hundred dollars. There is a black market but it's pricy. I can't get any more." People started to talk about throwing a reenactment in the square and Rory said, "I will wear the cap and gown. Right now I have to go and get to class. See you all soon."

She hopped off the stool and waved over her shoulder as she walked out. She went to her car and had reached the driver's side when she heard the footsteps. It wasn't a surprise to look up and see Dean. "Rory," he said slowly.

"The only option you have is to say, 'Best wishes,' and move on," she said.

"You're making a big mistake," he said.

She heard a gasp and turned to see her mother, stunned. All she thought was that she was running late if her mom was on her way to Luke's. Turning back to Dean she said, "I've made mistakes in the past. I slept with a married man because he assured me his marriage was over and I believed him. I dropped out of school for months and only Jess could talk me into going back. I kissed Jess and then told him to keep it a secret instead of breaking up with you right then at Sookie's wedding reception. I've made big mistakes, Dean, not a single one was being with Jess — it was only ever about being not in sync with him. Mom, I'll see you at dinner." Her mom nodded, wordlessly, as Rory got in the car and pulled away from the curb.

She breezed through her classes, having lunch with Paris and telling her all about her night with her mom and about Dean. Paris looked genuinely shocked when she told her about Dean. Rory had nodded, not even agreeing verbally. She had two classes after lunch too. She'd had to take six classes to graduate on time. It was the price of missing a full semester of classes. It meant that instead of having four finals she would sit six. It was worth it to graduate with her friends.

She drove straight to her grandparents where she asked for a Coke, wanting a totally clear head when she told them her news. She waited until her mother was there and the salad was served to say, "I have big news."

Her grandmother jumped in with excitement, "You're back with Logan." Rory started to shake her head and her grandmother said, "Oh, Rory."

"Claude, Walker and Alexandra," said Rory.

"What?" asked her grandmother.

"The night before the Russian Tea for the DAR, Logan and I decided to take a break and think about where we were. While we were taking that space, he cheated on me with three girls: Walker, Claude and Alexandra. He's the boy who talked me into drinking too much, the boy who brought me to too many parties. He was the boy who really wanted a housewife. I am not a housewife. I am a Yale student who wants to be an international correspondent. We were never going to work out. You told Shira Huntzberger that Logan and I should stay together for as long as we liked. We were together for as long as I liked. Logan was not good for me in the long-term and he liked the idea of me more than who I actually was. We weren't good for each other," she said. "He and I are so over. He keeps making overtures, spectacles, I want none of it. It's been done for months. He needs to move on. So do you." Her grandmother slowly nodded. "Part of what that fight that night was — not all of it, but part of it — was that my old boyfriend had come to visit me. Jess, the boy with the black eye, Grandma, came to tell me he wrote a book. He was published and so excited and Logan was so rude to him. It threw light on to things I hadn't thought about. It was that night I decided to go back to Yale. Jess was so angry, disgusted and confused when I told him I dropped out. Jess always supported me. His reaction woke me up."

She took a breath but not one long enough to let her grandparents speak. "A while ago, after Logan and I broke up, I called Jess with no ulterior motive. He knows me so well, and he was always so supportive. I'm getting rejected from jobs and I wanted to get perspective from someone I trusted who wouldn't sugarcoat it. He's one of the most successful people I know. He dropped out of high school and he is now the creative director and part owner of a small press that turns a profit. His book is being picked up by Doubleday. The publishing house is in the middle of opening a bar to complement their open mic nights, and poetry slams and art exhibitions. Jess followed his heart and he is living his dream while making money. We started really talking again, about books, movies, us, the future. He helped me see what I want; we talked about where I'm going and where I was applying. He was saying, 'Are you sure you want to apply there? That company isn't large enough. You'll be a big fish in a small pond. You won't be happy without a challenge.' We talked about everything." She smiled, thinking about it.

"He came to visit me. And we talked. We're getting married," her grandfather looked shocked but Rory forged ahead. "I'm not asking you to be thrilled. I'm am asking you to accept it. Jess pushes me to be a better person. He inspires me to be a better person. We celebrate each other's achievements and bolster each other. There's one more thing I'll say, and then you can talk. Our deal, for the money for Yale for Freshman and Sophomore year, was that we continued to have Friday night dinner for as long as I was at school and that I start paying you back in five years. Dad already paid you back the money, that part is over. We have three more dinners until I graduate. That's all. Then our contract will be over — there will be neither debt nor commitment. I like Friday night dinner, I enjoy it. When I'm traveling for work, living in Philadelphia, we won't be able to have them every week. I still want to have as many as we can manage. I don't want our relationship to be seeing each other on Christmas and Thanksgiving. But, if Jess isn't welcomed here, if he feels like it's an ordeal and he's treated as less than he is, we won't come. I won't be contractually obligated to be here. Think of how your treatment of Luke almost destroyed your relationship with Mom. I know that you and Mom have issues that started long before I came along. I know that you would never wish me away but you wish I came eight years later. Your relationship with Mom is different than your relationship with me. If Jess is treated as anything less than the man I'm going to spend my life with, we'll see you for part of Christmas and couple of hours on Thanksgiving. It's not an ultimatum, it's the truth. We want to adopt, in about ten years, when we are both established in our fields. You'll both be seventy-three-years-old, you can have a relationship with your great grandchildren. But if you are snobbish and cold to their father, you'll see them on holidays." She thought and then said, "That's it. You can talk now."

"The boy with the black eye?" said her grandmother.

"Yes, Grandma."

There was a palpable silence and her mother came to her rescue, "I wasn't very happy either. I think of Jess as the boy with the black eye too. I think of him as a kid who rolled his eyes at me. I didn't like him when he was a teenager. But Rory made a pros and cons list. The cons are on two pages. The pros are five. People grow up, people mature. Reading Rory's list, I realized that she saw a diamond in the rough and now he's all carved out. I'm happy for Rory. And I'm happy for Jess. This is not a crazy idea. This is a thought out, mature decision. None of us can change that decision and I don't think we should try. Mom, think of how you felt when you saw Gran's letter to Dad. That letter didn't stop you from getting married, from sharing your lives. It just hurt you."

"The biggest problem I see in the future is that I don't have a ticket for him for graduation," said Rory. "After all the hurdles we've faced, it might be the silliest. I can get one for him on the black market it will just cost me three hundred dollars."

Her grandfather shook his head, "I can talk to some people and get you a fifth ticket. My granddaughter's future husband should see her graduate."

Rory felt love and peace flooding over her. She felt that that was the largest blessing he could give to her. "Thank you, Grandpa, do you really think that's possible?"

"I'm sure one of the professors I know has an extra ticket. Leave it to me," he nodded.

"Thank you, Grandpa," she repeated.

"Can Jess come to dinner next Friday?" asked her grandmother. "The night before your graduation is your graduation party. We can combine it with an engagement party. I'd like to have met him as an adult before throwing the party."

"Absolutely," said Rory. "I just need to let him know so he can rearrange anything he's supposed to be doing for the publishing company. They have so many events. But his two partners in the company can cover for him with enough notice," said Rory.

"May I read this pros and cons list?" asked her grandmother.

Rory thought and then shook her head, "I'm sorry. It's too personal. I let Mom read it, Lane and Paris. But I think it would be a betrayal of trust to show it to someone who doesn't know Jess extremely well. I'm sure Jess showed his partners, Matthew and Chris, because they must have heard he was going to ask me to marry him and thought it was a terrible idea. I've done just as much damage to him over the years as he has done to me. He said they're excited and want to try on tuxes. I doubt they would feel that way without reading his list."

"You really kissed him at Sookie's wedding and told him to keep it a secret?" asked her mom.

"I was not a good person that day," said Rory with a nod.

"You're getting married," said her mom.

"First, I've got to get engaged," replied Rory.

"When is he proposing?" asked her grandmother.

"We made our lists to see if he should know my ring size. I told him my ring size yesterday at three in the morning. It's been less than forty-eight hours," Rory explained. "He'll want the perfect ring. He's a very thorough man."

"Dirty," said her mom.

Rory laughed, she felt relieved. No one was shouting; everything would be okay.


	4. Chapter 4

In bed, with the landline pressed to her ear, Rory told Jess everything. He told her all the details Doubleday meeting. Jess agreed to dinner with the grandparents and said, "There's this Art Deco apartment building, built in the twenties. It's next to the museums, gorgeous views, right near the park, four minute SEPTA ride to Truncheon, and there's a shuttle run by the building to the SEPTA, three minute walk from one of the better branches of the library — perfect location. I've wanted an apartment there ever since I became a responsible adult."

"About a year, then?" asked Rory.

"Yep," said Jess. He smiled, "I wanted to live there ever since I first saw it, but I only put my name on their list a year ago. A two bedroom place opened up. Rory, this place is perfect and it's very nearly affordable. With the book money, it's actually easy to afford. I don't want you to feel like I'm supporting you. Also, I don't want you to feel like a guest in your own home and it's a two year lease with an option to buy. We need space for books. It's hardwood floors, a little under twelve hundred square feet, with a manned front desk, a washer, dryer and dishwasher in the apartment."

"Jess, get it. If you want it, get it," said Rory with a laugh.

"Sure?" asked Jess, after a pause.

"Positive," she promised.

"Rory, you'll love this place," he said.

"I love any place with you in it," she said. "That's what I want. Is it by the Rocky steps?"

"You can see the Rocky steps from our stoop," said Jess.

"We should run up the stairs," said Rory.

"I'll do the theme tune," said Jess.

Rory smiled, "Something to look forward to; I have so much studying to do."

"I'll see you on Friday," he said.

"Something else to look forward to," said Rory.

"I'm not going to have the ring yet. I need to sign the lease, rearrange the lit night, possibly start to move," he said apologetically.

"Doesn't matter," Rory reassured him. "Once you move into the apartment and my OED goes on a shelf, I'll have a new home. Nothing else matters."

"It'll be an amazing life," he said.

"See you Friday?" she said.

"Friday," he promised.

She spent her next few days with books spread out around her, she finished final papers and studied, she ate and studied, she went to class and studied, she napped and studied. She never fully slept. She helped Paris study and Paris helped her study. Jess spent most of their conversations quizzing her. He didn't have any of her books, he was clearly doing it off the top of his head.

"How are you this well read?" asked Rory.

"I'm not good at being bored," Jess explained.

She sat her first final and, when she spoke to Jess she said, "One down, five more to go."

"Good job, Gilmore."

"Grandpa scored me an extra ticket to graduation."

"Can't wait to see you in a robe," he said.

"You've seen me in a robe," she reminded him.

"The other type of robe is also exciting. We can frame your mortarboard later but your mom might want to frame it. It was such a huge goal."

"The goal was graduation from Harvard, goals change," said Rory.

"Now the goal is cum laude."

"Uh, you mean summa cum laude," Rory corrected.

"I'm glad your first final went well," he said, "Sleep well, Gilmore."

On Wednesday he said, "What's your grandparents' favorite dessert? I can't bring them flowers because they have fancy flowers, I can't bring them wine because they have three hundred dollar bottles of wine. I'll make dessert."

"Can you make flan? My grandparents love flan."

"I will make individual flans," he promised.

She called her grandmother the next day and her grandmother seemed somewhat bemused. Rory explained that Jess didn't want to give her subpar flowers or wine. "He wants to impress you and Grandpa and he can cook."

Her grandmother made a small thoughtful, "Hm," noise. Rory hadn't been able to decipher it.

She handed in another paper and, on Thursday night, Jess said, "I'll see you at five tomorrow? We'll drive to your grandparents' from Yale?"

"Perfect," agreed Rory.

The next morning, she was studying on the lawn with Paris. Her early class was canceled because of the final next week and it was a gorgeous morning. Rory was on her stomach on the blanket with three textbooks in front of her, letting her switch between topics. Paris was ranting about skin cancer and Rory only almost listened when she felt movement next to her. She looked up and smiled, "Jess, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I rearranged things to come early," he shrugged, kneeling next to her.

"I have two classes," she said.

"I know. I figured I would pack some stuff."

"I'm glad you're here." She leaned up to kiss him. "It's nice to see your face. Even if I have to go to class soon."

He smiled, "Rory, I wanted the perfect proposal. I thought about it for years. I thought we'd be on the dock by the pond, or on a Ferris wheel. I thought about writing the question inside your coffee cup, of on the back page of a book of poetry that I annotated just for you. I thought about baking you a quadruple chocolate cake and writing it in white chocolate — making it a quintuple chocolate cake. When I was seventeen, I thought about spray-painting it on the side of Doose's Market." Rory laughed. "But it's a beautiful day and it's you and it's me. So," he said, pulling a ring box out of his pocket and moving so that he was on one knee, "Rory Gilmore, will you please marry me?"

She smiled, "Yes," she pushed herself up to kiss him and hug him close. "Yes, Jess."

Several people on the lawn cheered and Jess laughed, "Wasn't expecting that."

She kissed him again. "I love you, Jess." He slid the ring onto her finger.

Paris grabbed her hand and said, "Jeez, Mariano, how much does a Creative Director make in three months? Don't go swimming in that, Rory, it'll weigh you down and you'll drown."

Rory looked at her hand and said, "Wow, Jess."

Jess laughed, "Chris brought the most questionable artist in and I wanted her stuff out of the office. I'm serious, I think the chick was colorblind. This guy comes in for the open mic night a week ago and he wants all her stuff but he wants it at thirty percent off as he is offering to buy the lot. I was so pleased to get it out of the place that I agreed. He came to pick it up on Tuesday, saw I was looking at rings online and said his uncle was a jeweler and he gave me thirty percent off. In the end, Chris' horrible taste in art paid off."

"Is it three carats?" asked Paris.

"Two and three quarters," said Jess.

Rory stared at it. It was a rose gold band and Rory said, "It's beautiful, Jess. It's rose gold."

He nodded. "And it's a round brilliant cut: the most sparkly one I could get," said Jess.

"I love sparkles," said Rory.

"I know," he said. He pulled another smaller ring from his pocket. "Travel ring," he held it out to her.

"A travel ring?" asked Rory.

"It's a fake ring to wear if you're somewhere late at night all by yourself. Say, when you're off on your travels — being Christiane Amanpour — you're in a rough area. Men are statistically less likely to harass a woman if they think she's off limits. It's a horrible, sexist world. A small stone is a 'back off this woman is another man's property' sign. But, it's also small enough that a person with a knife won't be interested in it. And, if a person with a knife wants it, you hand over the small cubic zirconia that I bought at Target while picking up milk instead of the real ring that I could not have afforded if Chris didn't like bad art. The real ring is insured, but you also don't want to give it away."

"But I love both my rings," She looked at the small stone, "I don't want to give it to a mugger. You got it for me."

"Give it to the mugger," Jess instructed, "even if it's the real one: give it to the mugger. But if you're in an area where you think you might get mugged, put your real one in your front pocket and put the fake one on. Muggers are usually too busy trying to be fast to ask you to turn out your front pocket. They want your purse and your visible jewelry."

"So sensible," said Rory.

"There's a word no one ever thought would apply to my actions," Jess smiled. Rory kissed him so slowly. "Like the ring?"

"I like you," replied Rory. "But it is a very, very beautiful ring."

"Glad you like it," said Jess. "Paris, did you do it?"

Paris looked around and said, "Hey, Glenn, did you get it?"

Glenn, who had been sitting on a blanket next to them nodded, picked up a camcorder that had been sitting next to him. "I'll send the video to Rory."

"Thanks, Glenn," said Jess. "I'm Jess, by the way. How do you know Paris?"

"We're all on the paper together," said Glenn.

"We all went on spring break together," said Rory.

"Spring break," repeated Jess, unbelievingly.

"Paris even kissed me," Rory confirmed.

"Wow, I bet it was Girls Gone Mild," guessed Jess.

"Pretty much," agreed Paris. "We watched Power of Myth."

"That is a good documentary," said Jess.

"Thanks for filming it, Glenn. It's cool to have the surprise on tape," Rory said then glancing at her watch she said, "Oh God. Class."

"Apartment keys," said Jess. "I gotta get the flans in the fridge."

Rory kissed him and fished her keys out of her pocket. "Love you."

"You too, I'll pack up some more of your stuff and see you later," he said and kissed her again.

Rory put her books into her bag and said, "See you in a couple of hours."

She went to class for a final review. She studied and took notes. More than a few people were staring at her hand. It had probably gotten around campus that a proposal had happened on the lawn. It might even have gone around that Logan Hertzberg's girlfriend had gotten engaged to someone else. And, when she left, she was asked by several people if it was true that she was engaged. It felt weird to say yes. She took a photo of her ring with her phone and sent it to her mother with a text that said, "Jess came early."

The text back said, "I'm sorry, premature ejaculation happens to younger men more than older men. Just assure him that you don't mind and still love him. That is a truly beautiful ring!"

She went to the apartment where Jess appeared to have packed all of her winter and fall clothes as well as some of her less frequently read books. "My ring has been getting a lot of attention."

He just smiled, "So, kitchen stuff, you can make it a few weeks with just Paris' things. What's yours?"

"All the kitchen stuff is mine: pans, plates and placemats, Grandma bought it."

"Even the KitchenAid mixer?" he asked.

"It's half yours," confirmed Rory.

Jess nodded and started to pack some of the larger cooking implements, "You need plates, utensils, a sauce pan and frying pan."

"Do not take my coffee maker," Rory said, "we'll break up before we're married."

"I didn't know you liked coffee," said Jess. "Tell me more about it. Is this really good, really expensive knife set yours?"

"Yes, are they expensive?"

"It's a two thousand dollar knife set."

Rory shrugged, "They can't go in the dishwasher."

Jess studied her for a moment then said, "That would be what you focused on. I'm taking this knife block. It will look good on our counter."

Rory went into her bedroom and opened the bedside drawer. She pulled out the Canto General and brought it back, "Ta-da, Neruda."

Jess took it with a smile and opened it. "That's a lot of notes."

"I love you and I wanted to share everything. So what's going on with our new apartment?" Rory started to change over her textbooks in her bag.

"We are fifty-five percent moved in," said Jess as he wrapped the knife block in bubble wrap.

"Fifty-five percent?"

"All of my stuff is there and a fraction of yours. I handed in the keys to the old place and got my safety deposit back. I live in our new apartment. My old mattress is in the second bedroom. We either need a bedframe for it or, if you don't like mine, we need to get a new frame for our room." He nodded at the books Rory, "Shouldn't you be studying, Gilmore?"

"I'm taking a break, breaks are an important part of studying," said Rory.

"How long of a break?" asked Jess. "If you have time I would like to know what that ring looks like when you're wearing it and nothing else."

Rory smiled and backed up toward her bedroom as she started to unbutton her shirt, "Let's find out." Jess put down a frying pan and followed her, pulling his t-shirt off as he went. Rory kicked off her sandals and pushed off her jeans and underwear. Kneeling on the bed and unfastening her bra she held out her hand and said, "What do you think?"

Jess walked to her with a smile and shut her bedroom door as he came in, "That's a very pretty picture." As he came to her, they kissed slowly and she unhooked his belt. "Missed you all week."

"Just this?" asked Rory.

"No, missed your face," he kissed her so gently as she pulled him onto the bed. "I missed your smell." He kissed her neck and ran a hand up her side.

Rory pushed his jeans off and said, "Soon our apartment will smell of me." Finally, he was naked and she pulled him down as they kissed. "And we're getting married."

They kissed and stroked and held one another, enjoying their bodies and the pleasure they gave each other. Rory ran her thumb over his hip. A small birthmark marked Jess's groin, an inch below his Apollo's Belt. No one would see it is he was in a swim suit, not even a speedo would reveal it. Rory kissed the mark, vaguely shaped like a flying bird. The mark would never be seen by another woman excepting female urologists.

Rory liked the way he touched her hair and the taste of him. Running her left hand up his stomach she moaned around him and he panted, "God, Ror, feels so good." He took her hand and kissed the ring. He came with a pant of her name and she traveled back up his body, kissing a path.

She saw movement and glanced up at the ceiling where she saw dozens of little patches of light. "Wow, Jess, look at that. It's like a disco ball."

"Promised you sparkles," said Jess, stroking her cheek and pulling her up his body for a kiss.

Seeing the clock she said, "Oh no." Practically jumping out of bed, she said, "I have to shower and get to class." Jess groaned and dragged his hands down his face. "Last class before my final, don't sulk."

"Not sulking," said Jess, "just surprised you remember."

She kissed him briefly. "Amazing sex doesn't stop me from remembering class," Rory pulled on her robe, "I'll be back." She showered and brushed her teeth quickly and found Jess still lazing in bed. "If I have to go to class, you have to get up and pack."

Watching as she got dressed he said, "I'm going to jump into the shower before getting redressed."

She kissed him and said, "See you after class."

* * *

Rory's ring is on tinypic but the site won't let me have a link. So, if you care, you can check out the link on this story over at Achieve of Our Own. But, that picture shows a rock that's over a full carat smaller than Rory's, because Chris' taste in art sucks so much, Jess could afford a big stone.


	5. Chapter 5

She actually jogged over to class and damned herself for being so out of shape. She ended up out of breath, with a stitch in her side and three minutes late.

"Miss Gilmore, so nice of you to join us," said her professor staring at her.

Rory felt herself blush under the woman's gaze and said, "Sorry, Professor Davis, my boyfriend surprised me by getting here hours earlier than he said he would and he proposed," she held up her hand and pointed at her ring. "I would promise to never be late again but, as I've never been late in the past and next week is the final, it sort of seems silly. I really didn't mean to be late. Jess distracted me. I'm sorry."

Rory took her seat as Professor Davis said, "Well, best wishes."

"Thank you, ma'am," Rory got out her books and her note pad. She took detailed notes and afterward went up to the front, "Professor Davis, I am so sorry. Jess got to campus early and he's packing up my apartment and I lost track of time."

"Rory, it's fine. I didn't expect you to get married right after school, but it's fine," she said. She sounded a little irritated.

"Well, we're not getting married right now and Jess is well aware of the fact that I would suck as a housewife. We've known each other since we were seventeen. This is about two people who love each other spending the rest of their lives together. I'm never going to be a homemaker and Jess will cook dinner. He's about to go on a book tour and I'm applying for jobs all over the country. We'll be just fine even though we probably won't be on the same continent a lot of the time. I'm not graduating with an MRS degree. He was going to come tonight to have dinner with my grandparents but he came early with a ring."

Professor Davis smiled, "That sounds more like you."

Rory smiled, "I will see you next week, Professor. Wish me luck: my grandmother hated Jess when we were in high school."

"Good luck," said Professor Davis.

"Thanks, Professor," Rory headed out and back to campus. She went home to where Jess was walking out of her building holding a box. "Hey." She fell into step with him and, at the car, she slid her hand into his pocket for the keys to unlock it.

She opened the hatchback and Jess put the box in, with three others already there. "Your mom called, we're staying in Stars Hollow tonight. She says you have some boxes packed there."

"Two," said Rory.

Jess nodded, "Good start."

"Are you okay with staying in Stars Hollow?"

Jess nodded again, "It's going to happen at some point. We are going to go to Luke's for breakfast, early — before there's a crowd and so I can drop you back here to study all day."

"You just want to avoid the greater majority of Stars Hollow."

"They're all insane," Jess shrugged.

"You would enjoy it more if you went with it."

"I doubt it," said Jess.

"First Town Meeting after graduation, come with me. We'll do it right. It will be so different when you do it right."

"And how do you do it right?" asked Jess.

"You don't sit silently and judge everyone. You arrive late, bring snacks and interrupt as much as you like," said Rory with a shrug.

Jess shut the hatchback with a sigh, "Fine; I'll come with you to the Town Meeting. I brought a suit for meeting your grandparents."

"They'll like that," she kissed him slowly and said, "I was late to class and my professor judged me for getting an MRS degree."

"Did you explain that you can't cook and you'd make a terrible housewife?" asked Jess.

"I did and she was comforted." Rory stood on tip toes to kiss him. "Jess, I didn't need or seek a ring this big. I didn't come to school for an MRS."

"Ror, it was nowhere near as expensive as it looks. I couldn't afford platinum before the Doubleday deal and I did not buy platinum just because I could afford it now. I got you a rose gold band because you like it. It was very pretty. I know you weren't looking for a rich man. I used the Doubleday money to move into a lease-to-own-apartment that I would have wanted without even a girlfriend. We have rent money for five years and it's a two year lease. Don't worry about the ring. I wanted you to have that ring."

"It's a gorgeous ring," said Rory. She took him by the hand and led him back upstairs where they both changed.

"I'm nervous," Jess admitted quietly. He'd always hated looking weak, looking like he needed help. Rory knew it came from a childhood where he had to take care of himself. It came from years of hurt feelings and being harmed by others for being weak. He rarely admitted to his worries, even to Rory.

Rory stroked his hair and said, "I already told them that if they're rude that's a problem for me. You aren't on trial: they are. I want them to like you but if they don't, that's not your problem. Just do your best."

He nodded and then said, "I'm much better at the verbal thing than I used to be. I have practice schmoozing people at events but I might use up my quota of words for the week." That made Rory laugh. She fixed her make up.

Once they were dressed, Rory picked up her text books and said, "I'll study while you drive. You can save your words for later." He collected the flans from the fridge and she took his hand, giving it a slight squeeze. They drove in silence, listening to the Cure. When they pulled up to the house Rory said, "I love you and everything is fine."

He gave her a very small, very unsure smile. "I love you, Rory."

Her mom's Jeep was there and she took that as a good sign. Inside, Jess handed off the flans to the maid with a thank you and Rory led the way into the living room. "Rory, how lovely to see you."

"Hi, Grandma, Grandpa." Her mom stood and kissed her cheek, "Hi, Mom."

"Jess, you look great," she said.

"And you don't age, Lorelai," Jess replied. He hugged her briefly.

"Grandpa, this is Jess. Jess, this is my grandfather, Richard."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Jess, please call me Richard," said her grandpa as they shook hands.

"And Grandma, you remember Jess. Jess, you've met my grandma, Emily."

"Of course, ma'am," he shook her hand, "that was one of the worst nights of my life." He smiled at her, "Of course, if I knew then what I know now, I would have realized I had the perfect excuse for being late and for having a black eye and it was an amazing ice breaker to boot. At seventeen, I was too afraid of people laughing at me."

"Oh?" asked her grandmother.

"I was attacked by a swan," he shrugged as her grandparents and mother laughed. "Now I'm fine with people laughing at me."

"You told me you were hit in the face with a football," said Rory, remembering it so well. "You said it was really embarrassing, then you said you were hit in the face with a football and I said that that wasn't very embarrassing."

"I thought, when I started telling you that I was going to manage to tell you the truth," said Jess, nodding. "I was too embarrassed to tell even you."

"A swan?" said her mom, fighting for breath.

"I knew it was really important to Rory that I made a good impression. So, I traded shifts with someone at Walmart. I went home after school, put on a blazer and everything. Then I realized I was really early so I went down to the dock to read. I was nervous and I thought it would calm me down. The spot where I normally sat was dirty and I was in dress pants. I sat farther down the dock than usual, not realizing that I was in a swan's territory. Swans are very territorial. I was rereading The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby and I was absorbed so I didn't realize that there was a swan until I heard it hissing. I turned and saw it with its wings spread open and then it beaked me in the eye. I was bleeding, panicked and I went home to clean up. My blazer was covered in blood, I switched it for the Henley I wore here. I was cleaning up and trying to figure out if maybe Miss Patty could hide it with makeup. And then I heard about the traffic on the radio and, even though, I was still leaving really early — I came straight here. I was still a half hour late."

"The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby is a good book," said Rory. Stroking his cheek she said, "Poor baby." This time she wasn't sarcastic. Jess laughed and leaned into her hand.

Looking at her grandmother he said, "We would have gotten off on a much better foot, wouldn't we?"

Her grandmother was smiling and said, "There was also the fact that you didn't have a cell phone. Rory said you, quote, didn't believe in them."

Jess nodded, "I wanted a cell phone really badly but I worked two jobs to keep that rust bucket running. If I'd said, 'I would like a cell phone but I would rather drive your granddaughter around in a car with functioning brakes and airbags.' What would you have said?"

"I would have bought you a cell phone," said her grandma.

"I'm sure Luke would have, too. But I was very busy being self-sufficient and unwilling to ask for help. As it was, there were two phone boxes in the four miles between Luke's and Walmart and, the rest of the time, Rory was in the car with her cell phone. Driving here that night was the farthest I had ever driven without a passenger who owned a cell phone. I didn't want anyone's help so I pretended that I distained technology."

Her grandma nodded, "Well, Jess, you made a truly terrible first impression; you make an excellent second impression. Sit down, what would you both like to drink?"

"A coke, please," said Rory.

"A seltzer, please," said Jess.

"We have a full bar," her grandfather reminded them.

Rory nodded, "But I have to study and Jess rarely drinks so he never has a drink if he's driving."

Jess nodded, "No tolerance," he agreed. "And I need to drive with the dome light on so Rory can study. That's difficult enough without giving myself a handicap." Richard handed them each a drink and Jess said, "Thank you."

"Do you not drink because of a religious or personal view?" asked Richard.

"No, neither," Jess shook his head. He put his arm gently around her shoulder and Rory got the feeling that he was subtly seeking comfort. He was doing so well. Rory rested her hand on his leg and she felt him relax. "I've been drunk twice; it was horrible. I'll have a drink at a party, or a bar, but rarely at dinner."

"Really?" asked her mom looking shocked. "You're almost twenty-three years old and you've only been drunk twice?"

"Really," agreed Jess. "My nineteenth birthday and Fourth of July two years ago. Both were truly awful. I don't know why people enjoy it. And as I have no tolerance, because I don't drink, I get tipsy easily. I don't like that feeling either. I'll have a beer, and when I was underage I thought drinking made you look cool, but I don't have more than one beer and I don't think it changes how people see you."

"Well," said her grandmother, "a toast. To the both of you. May you have a very happy life together." Her mother and grandfather raised their glasses.

Rory smiled and her mom looked at her hand. "Ohhh, let me see the ring." Rory held out her hand. "Jess, did you sell a kidney?"

"No, a client had a jeweler in the family," said Jess.

"It's beautiful," said her mom. "It makes your knuckle look tiny, Rory."

Rory laughed as her grandmother and grandfather leaned in to look at it. "That's beautiful," said her grandmother.

"And I have a fake one for when I'm traveling in dangerous places while being a reporter," Rory fished her travel ring out of her purse.

"That's sparkly too," said her mom.

"That's a cubic zirconia," said Jess. "It stops creepy guys from hitting on Rory but is also not impressive enough for a mugger to be interested."

"Still sparkly. Tiny and sparkly," said her mom. She started to put on the ring and said, "Why are your fingers so irritatingly small?"

"Lorelai, stop wearing other people's jewelry," scolded her grandmother.

"It was fourteen dollars in Target," said Jess. "If you want one I'll treat you," he joked.

"I sort of want one," said Lorelai.

"Lorelai, you don't want your future son-in-law to buy you a fake engagement ring," her grandfather chided her.

"It's not a fake engagement ring as long as Lorelai wears it on the right hand," said Jess. "It's just a CZ ring."

"Thank you, Jess," said Lorelai, as though he had proven her point for her.

The maid called them in to dinner and Rory squeezed Jess' hand and smiled at him her grandparents passed and she whispered in his ear, "They love you. Relax."

Jess held her hand tightly. In the dining room, over salad, her grandmother said, "Rory says you're the creative director of a small press. It sounds very ambitious."

Jess nodded, "It started as a small press. I sent them my novel and they accepted it. I went in for a meeting and pointed out a few things I would change if I were them. They brought me on board. It was four other guys at the time. Two dropped out, we re-split their shares. Now, it's Matthew, Chris and me and I own a third of the business. We print three books a month and a magazine. We started doing Lit Nights, Poetry Nights, Open Mic Nights, Independent Film Nights and Art Shows. We're opening a bar and knocking down a wall between them for more space."

"What's it called?"

"The Pretentiously Named Bar Next to Truncheon Books," said Jess. "Matthew wanted to call it 'Cedar Bar Redux,' Chris and I put our collective foot down and ended up with a name so long we impressed the sign maker. We're hoping people organically shorten it to just Pretentious."

Rory laughed. "It's going to be so much fun." There were raisins in the salad. Jess must have been miserable but he was covering it well. He was eating it without comment.

"You'll be a bar owner who doesn't drink," said her grandfather, still caught on that fact.

Jess nodded, "Isn't that the best type? I'm in no danger of drinking our profits and it has led to six very good mocktails being on the menu."

Rory smiled, "It's going to be great. Menu sounds delicious."

"You'll have to come for the grand opening," said Jess looking between her grandparents and mother. "It's in about two months."

"And how's moving going?" asked her grandmother.

"Well," asked Rory, "Really well. A lot of stuff is getting packed. I'm packing between studying. But I meant to talk to you about, Grandma. The furniture you gave me freshman year was perfect for a dorm and for my apartment with Paris, but it doesn't really fit with the rest of my stuff. I sent the ottoman home with Jess but we don't need the other stuff."

"We can easily auction off that furniture. But what about the things in the pool house?" said her grandmother. "It's a much better TV and far more your style. You should look at it with Jess after dinner. Put Post-its on anything you want and we'll ship it."

"We're probably going to take both TVs, so we can have one in the guestroom. We have a guestroom. But, Grandma, you don't need to ship it, we can drive it. Jess keeps bringing stuff down."

"Including your amazing knife block," said Jess. "Thank you for that knife block and the KitchenAid mixer."

"Do you cook, Jess?" asked her grandmother. "You made dessert."

"I do cook a lot," said Jess.

Rory nodded, "Jess made turkey burgers, a vegetable curry and a bolognese the last time he visited because he wanted to make sure I ate something other than chips and chocolate during finals. Jess thinks I need healthy food."

"Vegetable curry?" asked her mom. "That is twice as bad: Indian food and vegetables?"

"I like Indian food," said Rory, "and I ate some the other night. It was good, there's chicken stock in the rice."

"You made rice too?" asked her mom.

"He even put them in individual servings in the freezer," Rory said with a nod. "I ate two of each. It's good."

"I froze them in correct amounts for Paris and Doyle," said Jess. "I assumed you would eat two of each."

"Paris ate one of the turkey burgers. She liked it," said Rory.

"Did you freeze nachos?" asked Lorelai.

"I don't know how well nachos freeze," said Jess. "Also, with the ice cream, Pop Tarts, snowman and microwave burritos, I'm not sure nachos would have fit."

"You haven't melted your snowman?" asked her grandfather.

"No, we're going to put it out after Paris' last final. It's a few days before graduation," said Rory. "It's our last one together. Paris will get emotional. Emotional Paris freaks me out."

The maid came in and cleared the salad plates and came back quickly with lamb in some sort of mint sauce. "Rory, after dinner you and Jess must go out to the pool house," said her grandma. "How are finals?"

"Finals are going okay," said Rory. She put one foot between Jess' as she spoke and Jess smiled at her. She started to go into details about studying to give him a chance to regroup.

Her grandparents asked her plenty of questions and asked some of her mom, letting Jess catch his breath. The only thing he said was, "Emily, this is delicious." Rory managed to keep the conversation away from him. He kept rubbing his left hand over her back.

"So do we have a date yet?" asked her grandfather.

"No, Grandpa, but I don't want bangs," said Rory. "It'll be a year at least to grow out my bangs."

Her grandmother suggested eating dessert in the living room with coffee and, while praising his flan, she asked if he had any hobbies outside or reading, cooking and art. And, as he said, "Absolutely," Rory said, "Oh no, Grandma."

"Do you like magic?" asked Jess.

"Grandma, say no," said Rory.

"I like magic," said her grandfather said.

"No, Grandpa, no," said Rory. Jess pulled out a deck of cards. "Where did you get that?"

"It was in your purse," said Jess.

Pointing, Rory said, "My purse is way over there."

"It's called magic, Rory, it's magic." He started to shuffle the deck. "Lorelai want in on this?" He pointed at the cards.

Her mom was staring. "Jess, were you always this dorky?"

"Lorelai," reprimanded her father.

"Yes," said Jess. "Pick a card," he said, leaning toward her grandfather and then her mom. He reshuffled the deck and said, "Memorize your card and put it back." He reshuffled and said, "Emily, tell me when to stop."

After a moment she said, "Stop."

He stopped and said, "Ror, blow on it for luck." She rolled her eyes but blew on the deck. He pulled out two cards and placed them face up in front of her mom and grandfather. "I'm not going to ask if these are your cards: they are."

"Jess, that is astounding," said her grandfather.

"This is my card," said her mom, sounding shocked.

"I like sleight of hand," said Jess. "I read a book about it when I was fourteen." He was shuffling and said, "Rory, here's one just for you." He smiled at her and never took his eyes off of her as he set four cards, face down, in front of her. "Flip 'em." Rory flipped them. All four were queens.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

"Well, my queen, it's magic," said Jess. He kissed the edge of her mouth and shuffled them back into the deck before he put the cards back into the box.

"You have gotten significantly better at that since you were seventeen," said Rory.

Jess smirked, "I'm not sure if you mean that as a compliment."

"Almost," said Rory.

"You were really this dorky when you were seventeen?" asked her mom. Jess nodded. "You seemed cool. I was worried about Rory going out with you and — all this time — you've known how to do magic?"

"You mistook good hair, a leather jacket, nicotine addiction and good taste in music for being cool," said Jess. "Even if you'd asked me at seventeen if I was cool, I would have said no. Dean was Rory's cool boyfriend. He had the letterman jacket, was the captain of the hockey team, could build a classic car and he had a well-off family. He was cool. I was the kid who worked at Walmart, liked magic tricks and really admired Allen Ginsberg. I wasn't cool then and I'm not cool now. You got confused because I had a black leather jacket and you thought I was a bad boy."

"I think you're cool," said Rory. "Besides, interesting is better than cool. You were always interesting. For one thing, most seventeen-year-old boys won't admit to reading Howl, fewer would admit to reading it forty times and no other teenage boy on Earth has ever pocketed someone else's copy and given it back filled with notes."

"I wanted to give you a gift and I had no money so I annotated your book. If I'd asked to borrow it, I couldn't have surprised you with the notes — presents should always be a surprise. It's a heartbreakingly beautiful poem, one of the greatest works of American lit and gave birth to the Beat Generation," said Jess.

"It talks about gay sex, most straight boys would not admit to liking it," Rory pointed out.

Jess shook his head, "It talks about the human condition, love and society. It's about misery and ecstasy. As for gay sex, man shouldn't reduce his vocabulary to vapid, innocuous euphemisms." That made Rory and her grandfather laugh.

Her mom and grandmother exchanged a look and her mom said, "I don't get it."

"The poem Howl was the subject of an obscenity trial," explained her grandfather. "It is quiet sexually explicit. The judge in the case, who was a heterosexual man and taught Sunday school, said it wasn't obscene because it held too much social importance to be written off. Jess was paraphrasing the opinion that the judge handed down."

"'Would there be any freedom of press or speech if one must reduce his vocabulary to vapid, innocuous euphemisms?'" quoted Rory. "If I was the sort of person who got tattoos, I would get that as a tattoo."

"Let's promise to never be a couple who gets matching tattoos," said Jess. "For one thing, I don't like needles."

"Agreed," said Rory.

"Jess, this might be the best flan I have ever had," said Lorelai.

"Keep a close eye on the temperature of the water bath and you can't go wrong," said Jess.

"I've never cooked a flan in my life. We mostly use the oven to warm socks."

Jess nodded, "Why don't you just put them in a dry pot on the stove? It has to be cheaper on the gas bill."

"Huh," said Lorelai, "never thought of that. Putting them in the microwave does nothing."

"I know, microwaves work off of moisture. If you get them damp and put them in the microwave, they burn: I learned that the hard way."

"Jess, this is delicious. Do you enjoy cooking?" asked her grandmother, attempting to steer the conversation back on track.

"I like to eat good food and I don't like restaurants that much. My mom wasn't a homemaker. If I wanted a hot dinner, I had to cook it or find it elsewhere. I really wanted lasagna one night and the lady who could usually be relied upon to cook me dinner if I asked nicely was out of town. I got out a book from the library when I was ten and made lasagna. It wasn't very good, but after thirteen years of practice, I can now cook anything."

"You learned to cook at ten?" repeated her grandmother.

"Well, I learned to put something that wasn't raw and was edible on a plate — calling it cooking would be a bit of a stretch."

"I wish I had been there for the proposal," said her mom. "I never thought you were a cute couple in high school, but I bet it was an adorable proposal."

"Glenn filmed it, he said he would email it to me," said Rory.

"Oh no, has Glenn turned into a creepy guy with a camera? I can imagine that quiet easily," said her mom.

"No, Jess engineered it, asked Paris to make sure I was on the lawn and someone was there to film it. I think Paris probably intimidated Glenn into doing it. Glenn is really afraid of her."

"I wanna see," said her mom in a half teasing, half serious whine.

"I want to see it as well," added her grandmother.

Rory nodded, "Grandpa, can I please borrow your laptop?"

"Of course, Rory. Jess, we have Wi-Fi now, it's incredible, have you got this?"

"No, our new apartment has two really good broadband connection points. You can plug in two computers to both sockets and you can sit on the bed, couch or desk and still reach it."

Her grandfather left to get his computer and her grandmother asked, "Where is your new apartment?"

"If you know the area, it's The Metropolitan," Jess' voice said it more like a question than a statement and Rory hated that he felt nervous.

Her grandmother looked shocked, "You got an apartment in The Metropolitan?"

Jess nodded, "I wanted an apartment there before I'd seen inside. I only became financially secure enough to put my name down a year ago. I've been waiting."

"The Metropolitan?" she grandmother said, stressing the word "the."

"I thought I would need to take out a loan to live there but Doubleday's offer on my book was very kind so, it's a lease-to-own apartment and Doubleday's offer would buy mostly pay for us to buy it, if Ror likes it. If Doubleday picks up the second book we'll buy it without blinking."

"It's a fabulous building," said her grandmother sounding disbelieving.

Jess nodded, "Beautifully Art Deco."

"I think you played down how fancy it is when we talked," said Rory.

"Don't worry, it's the Doubleday money; we're fine," he promised. "It's not fancy, it's just interesting and historic. It was designed by Louis Jallade in the twenties and was the Navy YMCA. It was dorms for the military during World War II. Above the seventeenth floor it gets fancy. And it gets fancier and fancier until you're in the pent houses of the twenty-six floor. We're only on the fifteenth floor. It's not cheap but it's also not outrageous."

"I don't want you to support me," Rory said.

"And when you're Christiane Amanpour you can pay for everything. Rory, I've wanted an apartment in that building for a long time. I'm not paying as a favor or to take care of the little woman, or anything condescending or misogynistic like that. I want this, you will want this when you see it. It's not the penthouse. This is our shared life, you're my partner and this is on Doubleday. I never expected the Doubleday money so it doesn't count as real income. This is just a windfall. I'm not supporting you, Ror, this is like we won the lotto. Doubleday was clearly on drugs and bought it because it was sellable, not good."

"I love Subsect, Jess," protested Rory, "it's a wonderful book. You always claim people are on drugs if they like your book. I like your book, am I on drugs?"

"No, but the next one is better," said Jess.

Her grandfather came back with his computer and her grandmother said, "Richard, the kids' new apartment is in The Metropolitan."

"Really, The Metropolitan?" he asked as he handed Rory the laptop.

Leaning toward her mom, Rory mock whispered, "We've said Metropolitan so many times, I'm starting to feel we're in a farce."

Her mom nodded and said, "And the word is starting to lose its meaning."

"Like when you say fork too many times and it stops sounding like a word," agreed Rory.

Nodding her mom said, "Metropolitan, Metropolitan, Metropolitan, Metropolitan."

"Would you two stop it?" said her grandmother. Rory smiled at her mom and looked down at the screen to log into her email.

"Where in The Metropolitan?" asked her grandfather.

"Fifteenth floor with a view of the Cathedral Basilica, Sister Cities Park and Logan Square," said Jess.

"Lovely," said her grandfather.

Rory opened the email and read the message from Glenn, "Best wishes, I'd like to meet Jess at some point." She opened the video and said, "Here we go." She hit play and handed it to her mother, letting her grandparents sit on either side of her.

She smiled hearing Paris' lecture about cancer. She hadn't really heard it the first time because Paris' gentle, less aggressive rants had become white noise over the years.

Hearing Jess' arrival, Rory smiled at him. "We're getting married."

Nodding, he said, "We're getting married." She heard him proposing and just smiled at his words.

"Jess, that was adorable and understated," said her mom as it finished.

"Rory likes gestures not spectacles," said Jess with a shrug. "I still sort of want to write it on the side of Doose's."

"Would have been sweet," agreed Rory. "But this was perfect." She took the computer back from her mom to sign out of her email but a message caught her eye. She opened it and read, feeling shock and pleasure wash over her.


	6. Chapter 6

She must have been silent too long because Jess asked, "Rory, you okay?"

"Remember on Friday, when we were talking about job applications and I said there was one I wanted but that it was an absurd long shot?" Jess nodded and Rory continued, "You said the best way to lose out on a long shot was to never apply." He nodded again. "I sent them three references, twenty-two articles and had three phone interviews over the last week. I hoped that being the editor of the Yale Daily News might help." He nodded. "I got it, Jess. I got the impossible, perfect job."

He grinned, "Really? What is it?"

She shook her head in shock. "I have press credentials to be on the Obama campaign bus." He stared, "For The Philadelphia Inquirer. And it will, if they like me, transition to being a political field reporter."

Jess looked shocked too, "Ror, field reporting on national topics is the first step to becoming a foreign correspondent." She nodded. "The Philadelphia Inquirer is a respected, established, financially sound paper. That's amazing." He pulled her into a tight hug.

"It pays very little but they cover all meals, travel and lodgings. There's a title bump and raise after the election. If they keep me on."

"You gotta pay your dues," said Jess. "They would be crazy not to keep you."

"I have to be on the bus, in Philadelphia five days after graduation."

"I'll guilt Chris and Matthew into coming up with me and we'll pack everything," said Jess. "Lorelai, you would love to shop for Rory's road trip essentials, right?"

Rory stood to hug her mom and as they hugged her mom said, "I'll get everything you need, sweets, don't worry about a thing." As Rory pulled back she grinned at her mom and they started to jump up and down, holding hands. "You got the job. And it's your new home town, so anytime you come home you can check in at the office and anytime you have to file at the office, you get to sleep in your own bed."

"I wasn't even going to apply," she said, grinning at her mom. "I figured if I couldn't get the internship at New York Times there was no way The Philadelphia Inquirer — founded in 1829, eighteenth largest circulation in the country, seventeen Pulitzers — would out-and-out hire me. I get a byline, Mom." They started to jump up and down again, sort of squealing. "I didn't think I could get it, it seemed preposterous. But what Jess said made sense, I wasn't going to get it, but I could try. I get a byline at The Philadelphia Inquirer. New York Times wouldn't give me an internship and now I'm a staff writer at The Philadelphia Inquirer." She and her mom started to squeal again.

"So, now we know the wedding date is after November 4, 2008. In fact, if you're getting a new title right afterward, we should leave it 'til the spring," said her mom. "That's plenty of time to grow out your bangs."

Rory laughed and turned to her grandparents, "Grandma and Grandpa, I couldn't have done with without you, seriously." She hugged them both.

"Rory, we could not be more proud," said her grandfather, hugging her.

Her grandmother hugged her saying, "This is so wonderful. But, Jess, don't be absurd, go out after coffee and put Post-its on what you want in the pool house and I'll have all that delivered next week. Rory, you have three days between finals and graduation, pack what you want from school in boxes and leave the furniture, I'll have people pick up your things the night before graduation and have them remove the furniture the day after. If you want any of the furniture, put a Post-it on it. You won't be inconvenienced in the least, you won't need to be there. Tell your mother what you want from your room and men will come and pack it all up one afternoon this week when your mother can spare the time to point and direct. You don't need to worry about this, this is what money is for: getting things done correctly, quickly and with the least inconvenience. This can be your housewarming present from your grandfather and me. Just keep what you want to bring with you in the car separate."

"I can take Tuesday afternoon off," said her mom. "Nothing is happening that day. You can send them around one, if that works?"

"Perfect," said her grandmother. "Jess, you have enough to worry about with the bar, the press and Doubleday, you don't need another stress point."

"That's very kind of you," said Jess.

"Rory, you should call Dad and tell him the good news," said her mom and Rory felt herself blush.

"Oh, no, Dad," she said.

"You didn't call Dad to tell him you got engaged?" guessed her mom.

"I should call Dad," said Rory.

Handing her Post-its, her grandmother said, "Go out to the pool house and pick what you want with Jess and you'll have less of an audience for the conversation with your father."

"Thank you, Grandma, Grandpa, it's really kind and generous of you," said Rory.

"Nonsense, Rory, it's already yours," said her grandmother with a smile.

Rory took Jess by the hand and her Mom said, "Sweets, it's late. I'm so proud of you, kid. See you two at home?"

Rory nodded, "Sounds good, we'll see you in a little bit." She kissed her mom's cheek and said, "Grandma, Grandpa, we'll be back in a little while." She led Jess outside and, once the door was shut behind her, she said, "How are you doing, Jess?"

"I don't know, how am I doing?" he asked as she led him by the hand to the pool house.

Rory laughed, "They adore you, Jess. But, seriously, are you okay?"

"I'm breathing through it," he said and he gave her a small, honest smile. She pulled him into the pool house and kissed him slowly after closing the door. He pulled her close and Rory stood on her tiptoes. "That makes things easier," he said. They kissed and caressed and he said, "Ror, you got the job," he grinned and pulled her back into him.

"I got the job," agreed Rory. She hugged him close and he stroked her back as they kissed. Pulling away she said, "What do we want from in here? What about the modular couch?" asked Rory. "It's pink, I don't know."

Jess put a Post-it on it, "That's a nice couch." He put one on the couch, then one on each of the side lamps, the yellow vase and the TV. Walking into the bedroom he said, "I was going to say that we should take the headboard but I think it's ugly. We should get an Art Deco headboard for our bed and take this bedframe."

Rory held out her hand and took the Post-its, writing instructions on one. "Jess, are you sure about this place? It sounds really expensive."

Studying her face he said, "How much time do we have before your grandparents come out?"

Rory shrugged, "Forty minutes? Tops. My grandma is nosey." Jess kicked off his shoes and flopped down on the bed he patted the space next to him. "Jess, you and I need significantly more than forty minutes."

He smiled, "No, just lie here with me." She toed off her heels and settled next to him. "When I was little my mom worked at a department store and she faked an injury to get a pay out." Rory realized that this wasn't about sex, this was a story and she curled in next to him. His arm came around her side and pulled her closer and she settled her head on his shoulder. "She got disability pay from them and from the city of New York and we got a government subsidized apartment in Harlem, a sixth floor walkup. It was, Rory," he exhaled. Jess had never had an easy time talking about his feelings, his mom or his past and Rory didn't push him now, just waited. "It was like some bad movie where you think the stereotype is too absurd to buy into. Like some bad cliché. There were always people fighting and you could hear it through the walls, there were babies screaming. When I was six, I went up to the eighth floor to talk to the drug dealers. I told them I was afraid of their guns, but they assured me that the bullets could never make it through a floor and a ceiling. They were really sweet to me... they gave me an Oreo.

"I used to need it to be loud to sleep because I used to sleep with headphones to drown out the shouting. We moved in when I was four and she was there for the rest of my life with her. Luke was… living with Luke was hard. It was horrible to be away from the city and I didn't have my own room. I get why he didn't want me to have a door but… I had no space, no privacy. It was Luke's world and I was just a guest. I know he didn't want me to feel that way but… at Jimmy's he had a spare mattress that they put out in the living room. I was there for two months. Then I went back to New York and I was in a studio apartment with four other guys." He played with her hair, as he spoke.

"It was good you didn't come with me when I begged you to," he said. "I had no money, no prospect, if you'd dropped out of Yale it would have gone down the drain. We both would have gotten mediocre jobs and had mediocre lives and I would have hated myself for talking you into leaving Yale and you would have hated me for convincing you. I came down to Philadelphia and stayed at a hostel for a month. Then I moved into the apartment above Truncheon. Again, I was living with four other guys. A little while after that party you came to at Truncheon, I moved into my apartment. It was the first time in my life that I had a place that was mine. It was tiny but it was clean and quiet. I had a breakfast nook and I didn't listen to people fighting or breathing in the same room. And then this place came up, Rory. I wanted this place for so long.

"I liked that it was a two year lease with an option to buy, I liked that it's long-term. For the next twenty-four months we know where home is. It's got amazing views and it safe and pretty. If you don't like it, we move in twenty-four months. Maybe we get a little house or something, I have nothing against houses. All I wanted was a place that I could call home that was safe, and quiet and nice. If you don't like The Metropolitan, we'll find someplace else together. Lots of places are safe, and quiet and nice. But, for the next twenty-four months, just pretend Doubleday is paying for it directly — pretend that money was never in our hands. I wanted a place like this my whole life. If you don't like it, there are lots of other safe, quiet, nice places and anywhere I share with you is good. But, give it a shot."

Rory kissed his cheek and said, "We're going to have a great life, Jess." He nodded. "I can't wait to see our apartment."

He leaned forward and kissed her almost chastely. "Call your dad. I'm going to have a look in the kitchen."

Rory didn't argue, didn't try to talk about his childhood any further. She just kissed him again and sat up. She crossed her legs and sat in the center of the bed. She dialed her dad's number into her cell phone. Breathing out slowly, she smiled as her dad picked up, "Hey, Dad, it's me."

"Rory," he said, pleasure evident in his voice, "how are you, kid?"

"Good, Dad, great actually. How are you? How's Gigi?"

"We're both great. It's been a couple of weeks since we talked to you. How are finals? How's the job search? Are you still talking to that Jess kid?"

"Finals are good," said Rory. "I've only had one so far but studying is good and I did really well on the one I sat."

"Good."

"So, Dad, I have not one but two huge pieces of awesome news."

"You have a job," he guessed, with excitement.

"I'm joining the Obama campaign as a staff writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer," said Rory. "After the election they might hire me on as a political field reporter. And field reporting is a good step toward being a foreign correspondent so my career is on an even better track than I thought."

"Rory," he exclaimed. "This is amazing."

"I know, Dad, and that might not even the biggest news." Jess came and stood in the doorway, smiling.

"How can there be any bigger news?" asked her dad.

"Jess came and visited me last week and we talked and we made separate pros and cons lists and we discussed something huge. And he came down to meet Grandma and Grandpa. And he was supposed to come in the afternoon. But he came this morning and asked me to marry him. There's a video, I can email it to you. It was only showing the video to Mom, Grandma and Grandpa that I saw the email from The Philadelphia Inquirer. I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner. Jess swept me off my feet." Jess raised an eyebrow at her and she grinned. "I can't wait for you to meet him. We're not getting married until spring of oh-nine but it's still huge."

"You're getting married?" asked her dad.

"I got engaged, Dad," she agreed. "Mom's excited, if you find that comforting. Mom read my list."

"I do find that reassuring," said her dad.

"I'm happy," said Rory, smiling at Jess.

"I can hear that smile," said her dad.

Rory smiled wider, "Jess is standing in the door, smiling at me."

"I'd like to meet this boy," said her dad.

"He'll be at graduation. Grandpa scored a fifth ticket. And the night before graduation is a party that Grandma wants to change from a graduation party into an engagement party. I don't know if Jess can swing it." Jess nodded, "Yes, Jess is coming to that. Are you coming to that?"

"Of course I'm coming to your graduation party."

"Mom's going to be there," Rory said.

"I can't avoid Mom forever," he said. "I'm not missing your graduation party."

"Okay, but Luke will be there too, probably. He is the best man. Grandma will probably want the wedding party there."

"Luke and I are fine," her dad promised. "Luke is a great guy. Is your sister going to be your flower girl?"

"I hadn't talked to Jess about kids in the wedding. He has a little sister too. Doula will be about two and a half. Gigi can definitely have a princess dress, let me talk to Jess."

"Honey, I'm so happy for you," said her dad.

"Thanks, Dad," she said.

"I'll let you go."

"I'll talk to you soon," she promised.

As she hung up, Jess said, "Doula? Liz named the baby Doula? I never thought Jess would seem sensible." He came and sat cross-legged, facing her.

"She was born at the end of November, Jess. You haven't met her?"

Jess shook his head. "Gigi can be in the wedding. I'm not inviting Liz… if Luke wants her there she can come. Is she still married to that guy?"

"T.J.," said Rory with a nod. "Yep."

"Good for Liz," said Jess. "Do you like your bedside lamps? I like your bedside lamps. And your drawers." He put Post-its on them all.

"You really haven't spoken to your mom in that long?"

"The last time I spoke to her at length was at her wedding."

"When was that?"

He shrugged, "The day I lost my senses and I came to Yale to beg you to run away with me."

"You hoo," called her grandmother from the door.

"Bedroom, Grandma," Rory called back.

Her grandmother came in and saw the way they were sitting, "Would you two like a ouija board?"

"Grandma, Dad says he'd love to come to the party and Jess agreed to having it be an engagement party and Gigi is going to be the flower girl."

"Emily, I like your taste in lamps and that is a very good coffee maker," said Jess.

"Thank you, Jess. Will the wedding party be available for the night?" she asked.

"Chris, Matthew and Luke?" said Jess. "I'm sure I can rope them in. Luke will be thrilled to be at Rory's graduation party. Chris and Matthew owe me."

"How's the picking going?" she asked, smiling at them brightly.

"We haven't looked in the bathroom yet. I was on the phone with Dad for a while," said Rory. "Jess has been doing it alone."

"Well, your grandfather has some Italian soda from a client, we thought we'd toast your new job."

"We'll just be a few more minutes, Grandma," promised Rory. "We're going to take the frame and the box spring but we have a mattress and we want an Art Deco headboard."

"It's a beautiful building," said her grandma.


	7. Chapter 7

It was late when they got back to Stars Hollow, having discussed the raisins in the salad and the stilted way her grandparents showed affection, and Jess said, "This place doesn't change."

"Not one iota," agreed Rory.

"You like that, don't you?" asked Jess. Rory nodded. "It's creepy. Don't you think it's creepy?"

"Nope, I think it's comforting," said Rory, closing her textbook. "So, the weekend of graduation," she started.

"I will be here," promised Jess.

"There's a dance, it's jokingly called Senior Prom, it's on Friday," said Rory.

"So, I'm finally going to take you to your prom? Do you want a limo? I can afford a limo now."

"No, let's walk to campus," said Rory.

"Okay, where do I get tickets?"

"No tickets, just turn up as the arm candy of a senior," she promised. "It's just dancing and wine."

"Should I rent a tux?"

"No, that suit will look good," promised Rory, "much lower pressure than real prom."

"I'm sorry about real prom," said Jess, voice soft.

Rory shook her head, "It doesn't matter." She pointed, "The bookstore got a little bigger, Andrew knocked out the wall into the store next door."

"Cool," said Jess. "When's your last final?"

"Monday, we have a whole week on campus without the underclassmen. It should be nice, a lot of parties. I can come down Thursday morning to be with you and then come back with you on Friday afternoon? I could see our apartment, maybe unpack while you're at work?"

"I would like that," agreed Jess. "We shouldn't make a guest list for the wedding until you know people in Philadelphia. You'll like my friends, Ror, I promise. It'll change the guest list."

"We have until fall of oh-eight to come up with a list," said Rory.

He pulled up to the house and said, "I sort of feel like I need to sneak in."

"You can walk in with me, lights on, no problem and sleep in my twin bed, sorry it's a twin."

"You keep apologizing like I'm complaining. Will you be sleeping in that bed?" Rory nodded. "Then I'm happy." He took the keys out of the ignition and said, "I'm almost more afraid of dealing with Lorelai than with your grandparents… scratch that, I'm more afraid of Lorelai."

"Mom wants me to be happy, Jess, you make me happy. This is my home, you're my fiancé which means that this is your home too, breathe out. She has to like you," Rory kissed him slowly. "Where's your overnight bag?"

"Back seat," he grabbed it from behind her. He kissed her cheek and said, "I just want us to be okay tomorrow morning."

"We'll be fine," promised Rory. She kissed him slow and, pulling away, she said, "C'mon, let's not make out in a car. There's coffee inside. We'll put on sweats, drink coffee, eat mallomars. You're off of best behavior."

"Your mom doesn't like me."

"Mom doesn't know you," said Rory. "You both need to give each other a second chance. My grandparents really liked you." He nodded and took a deep breath before opening his door. Rory followed him and went in through the front calling, "Mom, we're home."

"Kitchen," he mom called back. "Dad called, you said I'm happy so he should be fine?"

"Yep," agreed Rory as she went into the kitchen, Jess trailing behind her a little way. Jess took off his tie and shrugged out of his jacket.

"I confirmed that and he said I should price your wedding like any other wedding at the Dragonfly and then give him a family discount. He wants to pay for your wedding."

"Really?" asked Rory.

"I think he feels so bad about being a deadbeat dad for so much of your life. He always loved you Rory but… he was too young. I was ready to be a mom but he was sixteen. He was willing to get married; I was the one who said no. He was never in a position to support you financially and, when you were little, he didn't understand that the one thing you really wanted was his time. Now, that he knows that… he's rich now, let him pay."

"Still want a small wedding at the Dragonfly," said Rory. She poured herself coffee and offered the pot to Jess.

"Do you have any milk?" asked Jess. "Milk is better with cookies than coffee."

"We have milk," agreed her mom and got him a glass. "So how did everything go with the grandparents?"

"We packed, I talked to Dad and then Grandma and Grandpa wanted to do one last toast to my job. They used Italian soda to include Jess," said Rory with a smile.

"Wow, they like you, Jess."

"Really?" asked Jess.

"As hosts they needed to give you something to toast Rory but they could have used champagne and handed you seltzer," said her mom. "Using the Italian soda shows they wanted to include you." She smiled and said, "Were you really attacked by a swan?"

He nodded and said, "The next day I went out with a ladle, wanting to get revenge. Luke came with me. It didn't attack us because we weren't in its territory. Luke thought it was hilarious but I had a scabbed face and a really angry girlfriend so I didn't think there was anything funny about it."

Her mom smiled, fighting not to laugh. "Poor thing," she said but she didn't sound serious. He nodded as he took a small bite of his mallomar. "Maybe we got off on the wrong foot all those years ago," she said and he nodded again. "You stole my beer." He nodded. "So?"

He thought about it, always one to be sparing and careful with his words if he wasn't angry, and he said, "You're friends with Liz. I'm not going to say anything. It was all so long ago now anyway."

"Okay, I'm friends with Liz," agreed her mom. "I don't see how that changes anything."

"I wouldn't want to alter your relationship with her. I'm already not inviting her to the wedding, which puts you in an awkward position."

"So?" she asked, then after a moment said, "You're going to be my son-in-law, the eventual father of my grandkids — adopted or not, you'll still be their dad and I'll be their grandma. Just tell me."

Jess studied her, still silent, thinking. "That was going to be one of the first beers I ever drank," said Jess with a shrug, "booze always made my mom feel better. You gave me that condescending speech about being a bad boy and having a chip on my shoulder, told me to be grateful to Luke for giving me a second chance. I was a good kid, Lorelai. I didn't have a chip on my shoulder. I didn't need a second chance; I was a good kid."

He studied his hands for a moment, picking his words. "Liz told Luke that I was a problem because she never wanted her sainted brother to know she was a screw-up. If she had said to him, 'I'm so much of a loser I'm picking the guy I've been dating for two months over my son,' things would have been different. Her latest boyfriend didn't like that she had a kid so I got sent away. I was homesick and sad and surrounded by strangers. If you had come out, taken that beer and said, 'Luke is getting you a bus pass so you can go home every weekend,' things would have been different."

He shrugged again, uncomfortable but pushing through the discomfort to explain himself. "I was a straight A student. I always thought school was brutally boring, but child services had been called to the apartment so many times, I knew Liz would lose custody if I wasn't careful. Too many of her boyfriends had given me black eyes, child services had me on their radar. She was a bad parent but her problem with drugs and alcohol afforded me a level of freedom I knew I wouldn't get anywhere else. I went to school every day, I got home at two-forty, I did my homework and cooked dinner and left her a portion in the fridge. I would leave a note, saying where I was going and that I would be home by midnight. I was out of that apartment by four-fifty at the latest. And then the night was mine. That was from the age of thirteen onward. It was wonderful to have that level of control over my life."

He smiled at his mallomar, thinking of the freedom, or maybe some adventure. He took a breath and said, "I was in charge of our food stamps and welfare money from the age of eleven. I could always make sure there was food in the fridge and, with very careful math, I had about six bucks a week left over for doing stuff. I would meet up with my friends and we would go to bookstores, music stores, the library and the museums — museums have a 'suggested donation' to get it. I would give them a penny. I had a phenomenal life. Every night, when I got home, she would already be passed out. I would clean up the bathroom — that woman always vomited everywhere but the toilet — and go to bed. I bought used paperbacks — three for a dollar — maybe a slice of a dollar pizza. About once a month I bought cigarettes because it made me look cool, but that was as wild as I was.

"The night before she decided to fob me off on Luke like a discarded hand-me-down, I was at the Strand. Chuck Palahniuk was there for a reading from Choke. He signed my copy, I was really excited because I never bought new books, and it was a brand-new copy. I saved pennies for two months so I could buy a new paperback book. Eric, Dave and I went out afterward for soda. I had left ziti in the fridge and I wasn't hungry and couldn't afford a dollar slice that night anyway. We sat there for two hours, rehashing the perfect night. I went home and cleaned up her puke. And despite the puke and not being able to buy pizza — it was a perfect night. I looked in the fridge and saw she'd eaten the rest of the ziti and I had a jam sandwich before I went to bed."

He shrugged again, "And the next morning, no warning, she said I was going to Luke's. She ate the ziti I cooked and threw me out the next morning. That's cold. Aside from the food stamps and the vomit, and all the boyfriends who hit her and sometimes hit me, I had a perfect life. Then, I come here and find out that, instead of being honest, she's branded me as a problem child. What problem? Were the straight A's and never a peep out of me an issue? Was having someone who cooked her dinner, cleaned her puke and did her laundry a burden? And no one asked me for my side of the story. Luke accepted what she said and I was too young, in too much shock, to stand up for myself. Everything you thought was churlishness was homesickness and loneliness. I missed Eric and Dave and my autonomy. I owned that city and my life.

"From four-fifty to midnight, everything free place in that city was my playground. I never got in trouble, never got a talking to from a police man. I was a good kid who hung out in music stores, bookstores and museums. And I came here and didn't have a bedroom or friends."

He shook his head, before draining his milk, "If anyone had asked me for my side… I was a seventeen-year-old who liked magic tricks and books. I wasn't troubled before I got here. In Stars Hollow, the only person who was nice to me without an agenda or because we were family was Rory. She was pretty, liked books, good music and had big dreams. Rory was the only person who made this place bearable. And, in retrospect, that's not good. You cannot rely on one person to make you happy. It's too much pressure, too much responsibility and it wasn't fair to Rory.

"The reason that chalk outlined body was so stuck to the pavement was that I liked art class and knew how to seal art. But when I got here my leather jacket meant they put me into shop class. I knew nothing about cars and had no interest. I got branded as a bad boy and I was so angry, so hurt, that I just went with it. I thought it might be the only form of fun to be had here. I never took that money from Doose's, but not even Luke believed me. No one would ever take custody away from Luke so I didn't go to school — never liked it to begin with and now I didn't even have friends there. If they had taken me away, if child services had gotten involved, I didn't care. This wasn't my home, this wasn't my life. I owed Luke nothing as he didn't even offer me the littlest bit of comfort during the worst time of my life. He wasn't helping me for me, he was helping because his darling sister was a liar. Again, in retrospect, I know he tried, I know I could have made things easier for myself by talking. But I didn't want to talk; I wanted to go home.

"So, yeah, I pulled some pranks, I made this place a little more interesting. But a bad boy? I stole five hundred baseballs, I drew a chalk outline. There was no maliciousness in any of it. I crashed Rory's car because an opossum ran out in front of us. I was driving eighteen in a twelve mile an hour zone. The airbags didn't go off because it was too slow. If the pole and the bench weren't so close, we never would have hit both. I called the cops, I got her in an ambulance. They wouldn't let me go with her. Was I a great driver? No. Did I sometimes show off? Yes. But I was in control when that animal ran in front of us.

"I was a good kid, Lorelai. I should have spoken up for myself but I was a kid and kids don't know what the best course of action is. You gave me that speech about having a 'bite me' attitude… I didn't want anyone to bite me, I just wanted to eat a sandwich I made at home with food stamp bread under the whale in the Natural History Museum. That was, as far as I was concerned, the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon. If anyone had thought about it for a minute and said, 'Liz is a drug addicted drunk. Let's ask Jess what happened,' things would have been different. But, they are what they are and I have a great life as an adult."

Sighing he said, "I'm glad she got her act together, for her daughter. But Liz isn't my mother and Doula isn't my sister. They're relations of my uncle. Luke and I are good, years after the fact we managed to hash it all out. I remember after the car accident… he knew it was an accident, he knew I wasn't at fault. He sent me away to protect me from this spiteful little town that would have strung up a seventeen-year-old for a car accident and a broken wrist. Luke did try. But it was okay that he sent me away because I got to go home. Then Rory came to New York and I got to show her my favorite park and the coolest music store, take her on the subway and buy her a hotdog. That day was on a par the day I met Chuck Palahniuk because I was in New York and so was Rory."

"That was a great day," agreed Rory. "I got in so much trouble and a traffic jam made me miss Mom's college graduation, but right up until I said goodbye to you and got on the bus, it was a great day. And we're moving into that cool building you like, we're going to have lots of great days."

"Are you kidding? You've got a dream job, we're in a really cool city, Doubleday is publishing my book and I own a third of what amounts to a book store, art gallery, music shop: I have everything I ever wanted and you're about to rocket to the top of your game. We're going to have a life filled with great days. It's a dream come true. I would never have believed someone who told me this when I was seventeen."

"Huh," said her mom.

"It puts an entirely different spin on it, right? We would have been on the same page at least," agreed Jess. "I knew you were trying to be nice, I just didn't care."

"I would have found you a lot less worrying," said Lorelai. "You were a worldly bad boy."

"Everyone I knew had a leather jacket and smoked. It was just the uniform in my part of Harlem," said Jess. "I was worldly, I guess, I was independent. But I was still a homesick kid who liked books, music and magic."

"You were so dorky," said Rory. "You're still pretty dorky."

"I'm a published author and successful business man."

With a nod Rory said, "Who brought a deck of cards to meet my grandparents."

"Magic is cool," said Jess. "I worried I would need a conversation filler and magic is cool."

"No, it isn't," said Rory.

"You walked Liz down the aisle at her wedding," said her mom, trying to understand.

With a nod Jess said, "Luke wanted me to."

"Liz called you hell on wheels," said Lorelai and she sounded pissed.

Jess sort of flinched. He was reacting to the tone. Rory knew her mom was on Jess' side but Jess didn't know her as well, he possibly thought he was being accused of lying. Rory took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "She's good at keeping a lie going."

"What a bitch," said her mom.

Visibly relaxing and with a small shrug, he said, "Don't let her get to you. It's not worth it. If she's better now, then she's better. You can still be her friend. I'm glad her daughter gets a sober mom. There's no point in dwelling on the past. I'm not really an angry person, but Liz and her many husbands and boyfriends make it all bubble to the top. Her latest one threw my book on the floor of a gross strip club and I got into a fistfight. Then we got thrown out which was great because I didn't want to be in a strip club in Litchfield. The floor was sticky and women were taking off their clothes for money. I had already finished the beer I swiped off a stranger and there are few things more depressing to me than stripping. I've never been in a fistfight more than ten miles away from Stars Hollow. Twice with Dean, once with T.J., three times with random kids who called me white trash. Although, the one with Dean at the party was mostly just him throwing me around and me covering my face. The other one with Dean, I think I might have loosened his eyeteeth. I was quite proud of that."

"So no strippers at your bachelor party?" asked Rory.

"No," said Jess. "I mean, I have no problem with strippers, I have no problem with stripping. It should be legal and safe and respected, I just don't want to pay to see people naked. It makes me sad and feel creepy."

"What are you going to do for your bachelor party?" asked Rory.

With a shrug, Jess said, "Luke, Chris, Matthew and I could go to the coffee shop, sit quietly and read. Or maybe we can go to a really bad action film together, that would be fun. If we go to an afternoon one we can talk through it. But Luke hates movies. We could maybe just go out for steak. That would be nice. I'm sure it will be fun. I'll let the guys figure it out. Luke was there at T.J.'s bachelor party, he's never going to allow strippers." She yawned. "Tired?" he asked.

"It was an exciting day," she answered. "We got engaged and you charmed the pants off my grandparents."

"Ew, Rory, I did not need that visual," he said. But he smiled at her, "I got up at five to get to Yale when I knew you would be on the lawn. Let's go to bed."

Rory stood and held out a hand. Jess kissed her gently as he stood. Lorelai stood and said, "Wait, kids, before you go to bed, what do you want from your room, sweets?"

Rory went in and said, "Come in." Standing in her room, she pointed. "I want my book shelves, my desk, my toy chest, and all my clothes. If we grab boxes, we can pack everything in ten minutes." She opened her toy chest, which was empty, and went to her dresser as her mom put together several boxes. "This doesn't need packing it can just be dumped." She opened the bottom drawers of her dresser and pulled it out, dumping it all into the toy chest. She pulled out the next one and dumped it in too.

"You don't want your dresser, sweets?"

"No, we're taking the one in the pool house. Jess has one already. We don't need three dressers," said Rory.

"But it's pretty," said her mom.

"The furniture I picked when I was eleven isn't necessarily what I want now. We took most of the pool house stuff. The eleven-year-old me picked this. The pool house is my style as an adult. I just want my toy chest, bookshelves, my stuff and desk."

"So, not your books?" asked her mom, sarcastically. "That makes sense, you never liked reading."

"That's true, Rory prefers magazines — but not the thick ones — to books," said Jess. Jess opened the desk drawers and said, "This desk is empty."

"I know, I got proactive a couple of months ago."

"Room art?" asked her mom. Rory shook her head.

"What about your Yale board?" asked Jess.

"Nope," said Rory. "Mom are you turning my room into a sewing room?"

"No, I'm turning the garage into a sewing room. I think I'm going to put a queen bed in here. We'll have the room without your bookshelves, desk and toy chest. It would be good for a guestroom to have a queen bed. You and Jess need space when you're here."

"So, can the Yale board and the art stay?"

"Of course," said her mom. "It's still sort of your room." She opened Rory's book dresser and looked at them. "Grandma's guys will pack the books, trophies and knickknacks. Let's just deal with the clothes and stuffed animals." They folded packed as they emptied out the closet. "Chair?"

"Nope," said Rory.

"Lamps?" asked her mom.

"Nope," said Rory.

"What about your TV?"

"We have the one from the pool house and the apartment," said Rory. "We're good. What are you going to do with my bed?"

"Davie needs a big kid bed, it can get passed down through Sookie's kids and then, in thirteen-ish years, your kid can have it."

"I've had sex in this bed," said Rory.

"I know," said her mom. "You're probably going to have sex in it tonight."

"Possible," agreed Rory.

"You two overshare all the time," said Jess, sounding kind of grossed out.

"We flip the mattress and move on," suggested her mom.

With all her clothes and stuffed animals put away, Rory said, "I think this is good. The movers can do the rest. We're going to leave early tomorrow, you want to come to Luke's at seven?"

"Seven on a Saturday?" asked her mom, "no. What's your plan after that?"

"We're going back to Yale," said Jess. "Rory has to study. I have a newly annotated copy of Neruda's Canto General. I plan on sitting in silence all day while Rory studies and then we can go to the cafeteria for dinner because Rory has a ton of guest passes left over. Sadly, I have to leave early on Sunday morning because we have an art opening Monday night and it's going to be a nightmare."

"Is it an important theorist or something?" asked her mom.

"Who?" asked Jess.

"Who annotated your book?" asked Lorelai.

"Rory," said Jess. "As an apology for deviled egging my car. You owe me an apology gift too."

"You told him?" asked her mom, sounding scandalized.

"We deviled egged his car," said Rory. "He worked at Walmart for that car, Mom, you owe him a present."

"He totaled your car," her mom said in defense.

"But I could have just as easily been driving. Besides, that would maybe make it okay that I deviled egged his car. That really doesn't excuse you doing it. You owe him a present."

"Rory's is the best gift," said Jess, "because we've never discussed Neruda. It's all new ground. That's how I'll spend my Saturday."

Rory kissed her mom's cheek, "I'll say goodbye in the morning. You want coffee in bed at seven?"

"Yes please, I might see you at Luke's; I have to be at the inn by eight-thirty. If I can get up and dressed, I'll come in to say bye. Coffee in bed will help." She kissed Rory's cheek, "See you in the morning. Jess, I'll figure out a gift." She looked at them both and said, "I'm sorry about when you were younger, Jess."

Jess shook his head, "No big deal, Lorelai. It doesn't matter now. Sleep well."

She shut the door behind her and Jess said, "It's gross that you and your mother just talked about the fact I want to get in your pants."

Rory sighed, "I want you to get me out of my pants. You look good in a suit, Jess."

"Oh yeah?" he asked with a smile.

"Yeah, and you were awesome tonight, aside from the card tricks." She unzipped her dress.

"You're wearing matching underwear," said Jess, looking at the set: red with little white birds.

"I figured if tonight went terribly, and you were left wanting to cry in a corner, I could at least be wearing matching underwear."

"That's really sweet and thoughtful of you." He sat down on the bed and gently pulled Rory into his lap. "Tonight wasn't that bad," he said. "It was weird and I was nervous but it was fine. Your mom was nice, that was cool. Your mom's always hated me."

"She didn't hate you; she didn't know you."

He nodded and after a minute he said, "I know but… she's always been pretty mean. I know I haven't always been a great person, but she scares me. She's shouted a lot in the past. But, I guess things are different now."


End file.
